Human Development and Prayer
While there are some elements common to all our lives, we know that each person has individual characteristics too, and a unique story. As human beings, we are gifted, though limited, creatures. Our particular characteristics, our backgrounds and how we were nurtured and formed exert their influence on us. Our formation in faith has an important role in providing direction and in setting goals in life. There are challenges to all of this from various sources, inside and outside ourselves. It is good to remember that in his ministry Jesus met, not only openness and receptivity, but also blindness and resistance. The response to his call was not always immediate and generous.
Excerpted from See God Act: The Ministry of Spiritual Direction by Michael Drennan SJ (p: 33 )
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First Things First
The image of a jigsaw puzzle helps to develop a little more the idea of what life is about. Each individual piece plays an invaluable role. There are no substitutes. There is no understudy to replace me in life. We collaborate as co-creators with God by ‘selving’, owning who we are and, in that way we facilitate the completion of the jigsaw with our own unique contribution, as God had hoped for. It’s only when all the pieces come together that the New Jerusalem, the new order of creation, will be established. While the kingdom of God is in our midst, it’s awaiting completion. We’re not passive recipients in God’s eyes. God needs each one of us to play the part assigned to us, by being who we are, faithful to our true selves. That’s why it’s so important to get in touch with what really makes us tick.
Excerpted from Pathways to a Decision with Ignatius of Loyola by Jim Maher SJ (p.24)
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The God of Galaxies, Glow Worms and Grace
We are part of the unfathomable weave of the universe, immersed in its deep mystery. Its dance has already begun: it has always been in process. Each of us has a role in it. Jesus and his Father are working (Jn 4:34) for the good of all creation and we can tune in to their signals and do likewise. Thomas Merton says that every moment and every event in every person’s life plants seeds of spiritual vitality in their hearts. This is the divine at work on Earth: this is grace and grace is everywhere. All is sacred and so are we. We must not desecrate our Common Home. We belong to the great Creation Story, to a whole that is infinitely greater than ourselves. We are called even now to share with all of Creation ‘in the freedom of the children of God’ (Rom 8:21).
So let’s put on our dancing shoes and learn the steps of the cosmic dance!
Excerpted from Creation Walk: The Amazing Story of a Small Blue Planet by Brian Grogan SJ (pp. 90-91)
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Discovering God Daily
The most consoling thought is that God is with us always, even in difficult or messy moments in our lives. This loving God who has created us has provided a way for us to communicate by tuning in to our inner life. This life is made up of feelings and emotions, the raw material of the movements that God stirs in us. By using reflection and contemplation, we can learn how to find and cooperate with God’s will. We often need to let go of attachments and our sense of being in control in order to find God. The other really good news is that God is always offering us a new chance or opportunity. As St Paul said, ‘Nothing can separate us from the love of God’ There is always a way back home. We don’t have to expect huge miracles or spectacular moments. Rather, there are concrete ways of living, praying and reflecting on our experience that allow us to discover God daily.
Excerpted from Discover God Daily: Seven life-changing moments from the journey of St Ignatius by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds (pp.95-96)
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The Desert Experience
Often the important thing is being able to let go of unrealistic goals and expectations and instead be obedient to the reality in which we find ourselves. Being flexible, creative and making good decisions in the particular circumstances is harder than it sounds, as fixed plans, ideals and pre-set objectives can hold sway. Ignatian freedom is the letting go of these deceptive attachments in order to come to better decisions. ‘Discretion is the better part of valour’ or, in Ignatian language, discerning good decisions is being humble in the face of reality.
Excerpted from Brothers in Arms by Brendan McManus SJ (pp: 57-58)
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Discovering God Daily
Finding God in the messy bits and pieces of our lives is enormously challenging. Many prefer to escape in sanitised, blissful and ‘holy’ experiences far removed from the daily hubris that surrounds us. The challenge remains to believe that God is with us and, while not causing life’s chaos and unpredictability, works powerfully to shape and mould us through these experiences. Think of the image of the potter and the clay (Jeremiah 18: 1-4) where being broken and remade reveals the nature of God’s loving care, and where ideas of perfection and ‘getting it right first time’ are unhelpful.
Excerpted from Discover God Daily: Seven life-changing moments from the journey of St Ignatius by Brendan McManus SJ and Jim Deeds
(p.8)
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Long Live Indifference
Asking yourself about your inner freedom, investigating what your purpose in life really is, is valuable for your personal search for more quality of life. Mildness and humility are important here. It is almost inevitable that we will attach ourselves in a way that can make our inner self not free. As a young Jesuit, an elderly fellow brother spoke to me about white rabbits: a little boy shows his best friend his toy cabinet and says to him: ‘I love you, you can choose what you want, it is a gift for you. Only … my white rabbit, you can’t take that, because it’s really just for me.’
We all have a few white rabbits, big things or small things, postures, dynamics … to which we are more attached than we would like and of which we are sometimes not proud. It’s human nature. It’s a big step if you can admit to yourself that they exist. Maybe as the years go by you can say goodbye to your white rabbit but there is a good chance that something else will replace it.
Excerpted from Living with Ignatius: On the Compass of Joy by Nikolaas Sintobin SJ (pp.36-37)
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Discernment
Discernment is trying to make a good decision based on the situation in which one finds oneself. The first level of decision-making revolves around the pros and cons, the reasons for and against a decision. Situations are complex and often fluid, with many factors in play. There is an element of reflection, of creating space and trying to review the decision from different points of view. The process does take some time, though, and can’t be rushed.
Excerpted from Brothers in Arms by Brendan McManus SJ (p.8)
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We are here to love and serve God
The examen is a tool we use along the way – to find God in our lives, to discover what needs to be done, to reflect on our actions and motives and to make good choices.
That, in a nutshell, is what Ignatian spirituality is all about. Ignatius brought contemplation and action together, but the senior partner in the alliance is action. In the Ignatian scheme of things, we love and serve God by being joined with Christ in the work of saving and healing the world. The end of the examen is action – responding to God more faithfully, discerning our part in Christ’s mission, and making good decisions about how to fulfil it.
Excerpted from A Simple Life-Changing Prayer by Jim Manney (p. 76)
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Great to Be Young
The third Jesuit preference is to ‘accompany the young in the creation of a hope-filled future’… Accompanying young people in the creation of a hope-filled future can be challenging. Apart from positive role models, what can be done to promote a hope-filled future for young people? The most obvious response is the opportunity for a young person to be supported in having as good an education and formation as possible, addressing all aspects of the human person – intellectual, social, psychological, physical, spiritual and religious. Retelling the positive events of a community’s story is also critical, because it reminds us of what we’re capable of and how to achieve it. It also reinforces the relational aspect of our identity, reminding us that each individual is part of a bigger story.
Excerpted from Reimagining Religion : A Jesuit Vision by Jim Maher SJ
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