That’s not what I had expected….
Inflated expectations and wanting to repeat previous experiences can become unhelpful attachments that trap us in the past and hinder accepting the new realities. Unexamined, expectations can become idols that dominate our thinking and take away our peace, necessitating a reality check to deal with them. Ignatian freedom is the opposite: freely accepting new conditions as gifts, without being limited by preconceptions or expectations, in order to find the newness of God in current situations.
Excerpted from Brothers in Arms by Brendan McManus SJ (p.39)
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Visiting and Sharing at Christmas
We hardly realise what we take in, as we in our own way take steps to visit other people’s houses: those of friends and family, those of strangers and neighbours, those of fellow church-goers and maybe those of other faiths with whom we have come to share the main celebrations of our respective religions. As we knock on the door, or ring the bell, with maybe a present or greeting card to hand, perhaps we could spare a thought for this meeting of Mary and Elizabeth: the absence of jealousy, the genuine joy of playing some part together in the mystery of God’s amazing plan, the chance to share with a smile and excitement and, yes, a blessing, with someone else whose life at that moment is crossing ours. We may not have much to give, but as we will all recall from the last verse of the Christmas carol, ‘In the bleak mid-winter’, it is our heart that is the greatest treasure, and that we can give to the Christ-child by sharing what we have with others.
Excerpted from Journeying to the Light: Daily Readings through Advent and Christmas by John Mann (p.67)
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Seeking a world of justice and peace
Humanity has a short memory and imagines that the unassailable of today will remain in the ascendancy forever, but history shows that the only true and everlasting rock is that of the Lord. The Christian, in seeking to understand the coming of the Messiah, is receiving images from a Hebrew faith community that held the vision of a world of justice and peace. Christ owned those images and we have received the legacy of the kingdom founded upon the principles that he showed and taught from the day of his birth, and to which we continue to be drawn.
Excerpted from Journeying to the Light: Daily Readings through Advent and Christmas by John Mann (p.14)
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Advent Preparation
We wait, as surely we must, in awe at what is about to happen, as we reflect upon the vision of the prophets of long ago in a reformed world more than two thousand years after Christ’s birth. We know that the key is the Incarnation. The reality of God becoming human in the person of Jesus may be incomprehensible even in a single lifetime, but we have some days left in Advent to do what we can, that is to try to understand what this miracle implies. So we pray for sight to glimpse the glory that is being revealed and for the ability to listen to messages as they are delivered to the ears of those who wait.
Excerpted from Journeying to the Light: Daily Readings through Advent and Christmas by John Mann (p.16)
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‘The Spirit of the Lord shall rest on him’ Isaiah 11:1–10
Things do not always work out the way we picture them. As Christians, we interpret this within the providence of God and seek to follow where we believe Christ leads. I would add to that a belief that where we take steps that are found later to have been clearly wrong, our Lord can and does call us from there into a new place. Such is his love for us that, no matter what, it never fails. Somehow, Life with Christ demonstrates this; redirection, when it comes, though we may think of it like the recalibration of a sat-nav, is more akin to a friend walking with us, sometimes gently guiding and occasionally bringing us up sharply to see our error.
Excerpted from Journeying to the Light: Daily Readings through Advent and Christmas by John Mann (p.9)
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‘It’s Not Fair’
It’s easy to be overwhelmed by the state of the world and to feel helpless. There’s not much any single individual can do. A starting point is to see how the world works through the eyes of the disadvantaged, the poor, the marginalised and those most impacted by climate change. When leading sixth year Quo Vadis pilgrims on a three-day hike over the mountains, there was an implicit understanding. ‘I’ am not there yet until ‘we’ are all there. No matter how fast or athletic a person was, the pace had to accommodate the weakest. We would often stop to wait for the stragglers who were finding it difficult to climb the steep sections and then continue only after they had recovered. While the stronger may have been frustrated from time to time, there was an invaluable lesson. We walked as a community where people watched out for one another. We weren’t in competition. We were in empathetic solidarity. This experience mirrors our better nature.
Excerpted from Reimagining Religion by Jim Maher SJ (p.116)
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Random Reflections
Don’t cry for too long when something beautiful ends or a dear friend dies. Rejoice and be grateful that the beautiful happened.
Excerpted from Random Reflections by Des O’Donnell OMI (p.49)
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Tips From Learning From Your Feelings
Distinction is in the first place based on one’s own feelings. It is about what you notice in your own heart, not the hearts of your housemates, parents or friends. It is valuable to know how people who love you feel about what you do or don’t do, and to distinguish between your desires and their desires. Their feelings can provide valuable information. The only place where all this information finally comes together, however, is your own heart. It is about your life.
Excerpted from Living with Ignatius: On the Compass of Joy by Nikolaas Sintobin (pp. 85-86)
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The Ignatian System
The Ignatian system is based on a very simple insight that our experience has meaning, especially our inner moods and deeper experiences. To be able to see clearly, however, we need to be able to stand back and reflect on our journey. Seeing clearly then helps us find a direction or a path forward. It is like getting to a high point on the trail where you can see your previous journey and plan the future with great clarity. The key is getting out of our heads, away from anxiety, old patterns and fixed ideas and moving from the ego, or self-centredness to our best selves, which is what God wants. This is not as easy as it sounds though as the ego has strong defences and resists attempts to break free from its clutches. Freedom is only possible through connecting to a higher love, and the Camino journey is the organic process of letting go of our old life or patterns and waking up to a new reality.
Excerpted from Contemplating the Camino: An Ignatian Guide by Brendan McManus SJ (pp. 8-9)
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Always Ready To Help Us
God is always ready to help us. What’s required is that we first declare before God our thankful love. This needs to be our starting point, and indeed it shouldn’t only be a starting point, but a constant point of reference in our lives. As St Paul says in his first Letter to the Thessalonians: ‘give thanks in every circumstance’ (1 Thes 5:18).
In other words, give thanks also in difficult moments, in challenging moments, in moments when there doesn’t appear to be enough resources to see you through. Beneath apparently difficult situations, there is a hidden grace.
Excerpted from The Mindful Our Father by Thomas G. Casey SJ (pp: 102-103 )
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