星期六 21 二月
临在
我所在意的,正在塑造我的所是与所成。
我省思那始终以爱临在的天主,即使在许多牵绊着我的事物之中。
我停下来祈祷,愿我在此刻,让天主触及并塑造我的所是。
内在自由
天上的父,求你让我觉察今日我所背负的一切重担,并赐给我恩宠,使我能将这些重担放在你十字架的脚下,从而以自由的心进入这段祈祷的时光。
意识
上主,我意识到祢的临在,
我回顾自己近期的过往。
让我诚实地面对自己,
面对自己的所是与所为,
因为我知道祢喜爱内心的真实,
并接受我本来的样子。
天主的圣言
路加福音 5:27-32
27此后,耶稣出去,看见一个税吏,名叫肋未,在税关那里坐着,便对他说:“跟随我罢!”28他便舍弃一切,起来跟随了他。
29肋未在自己家中为他摆设了盛筵,有许多税吏和其他的人,与他们一同坐席。30法利塞人和他们的经师就愤愤不平,对他的门徒说:“你们为什么同税吏和罪人一起吃喝?” 31耶稣回答他们说:“不是健康的人需要医生,而是有病的人。32我不是来召叫义人,而是召叫罪人悔改。”
引导
甚至在我们尝试改变自己之前,耶稣就已经把祂的爱给了我们。祂仿佛感觉到我们需要一切鼓励,才能全力向前迈进,这样,祂为我们所做的努力,就会加强我们自身的努力,朝向正确的方向迈进,使我们能够成为最好的自己。
对祷
亲爱的耶稣,我可以向祢敞开心扉,
把一切令我烦忧的事都告诉祢。
我知道,我生命中的所有牵挂,
祢都放在心上。
求祢教导我活在这样的确信之中:
今天关怀我的祢,
明天也必关怀我,
并且在我生命的每一天,
都不会停止照顾我。
结束祷
愿光荣归于父、及子、及圣神;
起初如何,今时亦然,直到永远。
阿门。
阿门
感谢你们今天与神圣空间一起祈祷。
临在指引
什么是临在?
透过觉察呼吸、身体与周围的声音,并留心当下的经验,使自己临在于此,为即将开始的祈祷收敛心神。
操练:
觉察天主的临在
若有人问:是否能用另一个名字来称呼天主?我们可以说:「临在。」 因为天主正是那一位临在的天主。当梅瑟询问雅威祂的名字时,祂回答说:「我是自有者。」 这句话的意义是:「我在这里。」「我必与你同在。」天主亲密地临在于一切之中, 更深切地,临在于我们每一个人内。耶稣的名字是厄玛奴耳,意思是:「天主与我们同在。」 而玛窦福音在结尾处,让我们听见主那温柔而坚定的应许:「看,我同你们天天在一起,直到今世的终结。」 ——摘自 Brian Grogan SJ《在万事万物中寻找天主》
身体操练
坐在椅子上,身体保持端正而放松,背部挺直。让全身慢慢安顿下来(但不松垮),双脚平放在地面上,双手自然地放在大腿上,或在膝上轻轻合拢。
轻轻闭上双眼,或将目光安放在前方某一点上。现在,让你全部的注意力,温柔地回到身体所感受到的一切。你可以从双脚开始,慢慢向上,将注意力停留在你此刻能够觉察到的身体部位上——也许只是短短几秒钟;然后再把注意力移向另一个部位。若能在同一处停留更久一些,则更为理想。 此刻,你所关注的是正在感受到的本身,而不是关于感受的想法。如果你感到不适、发痒,或想要改变姿势,只需觉察并承认这份不适,告诉自己这没有关系;无需移动身体,继续将注意力放在身体当下的感受上。
我们的心思很少会长时间让我们安静地停留在这里,很快便会以各种评论和疑问来要求我们的注意:
「这样做是在浪费宝贵的时间。」
「这和祈祷有什么关系?」
「这样做究竟有什么意义?」
面对这些疑问和评论,就如同你先前对待身体的不适一般:只需觉察它们,不加评断,然后再一次,将注意力温柔地带回到身体的感受之中。
若你愿意,也可以进入更直接的祈祷:在心中轻声重复圣保禄的话——「在祂内,我生活、行动,并存在。」
——改编自 Gerry W. Hughes SJ《惊奇的天主》
呼吸操练
这个练习,是将你全部的注意力,专注在吸气与呼气时身体所产生的真实感受上,而不刻意改变呼吸的节奏。
将注意力放在呼吸的感受上:觉察凉凉的空气进入鼻腔,又觉察呼气时温暖的气息流出。
起初,你可能会对自己的呼吸变得过于在意,发现呼吸节奏变得不太自然;但通常这种情况不会持续太久。
若这种不适持续出现,甚至让你感到气促或呼吸困难,那么在此阶段,这个练习可能并不适合你。
许多人在进行这个练习时,会发现自己的呼吸节奏逐渐改变,呼吸变得更深、更缓慢,也可能开始感到些许困倦。就其本身而言,这是一个非常好的放松练习。
然而,若你愿意将它带入更直接的祈祷之中,可以让吸气表达你生命中一切的渴望——即使在现实中看似不可能实现;而在呼气时,将你的一切,你的整个人生包括你的忧虑、罪过、内疚与遗憾完全交托给天主。
在进行这一切时,重要的是不对自己作任何评断——无论是赞许或否定。
将注意力稳稳地放在你愿意把这一切忧虑交托出去的渴望上,不要紧抓这些关于自己的担忧,仿佛它们是宝贵的资产。
——改编自 Gerry W. Hughes SJ《惊奇的天主》
聆听操练
坐在椅子上,身体保持端正而放松,背部挺直。
现在,只需留意你所听见的声音——那些来自远处的声音。只是聆听,不必刻意分辨或命名它们…..
接着,留意那些更微弱的声音,然后是较为接近的声音。只是聆听,让自己觉察它们的存在……
留意你自己的呼吸声,心跳声,轻微的,但是你个人的生命节奏….
还有留意一下你祈祷所在处安静的声音,你内在平静的声音…….
保持如此聆听一段时间。
——摘自 Donal Neary SJ《四旬期的祈祷》
内在自由指引
什么是内在自由
这是在意识到天主赐予我们的自由意志,并将这份自由重新交还给祂,
好使我们的心意与祂的旨意相合,在这段祈祷中,完全向祂的引导敞开。
操练
为内在自由祈祷
这篇祈祷帮助我们将自己完全交付于天主。圣依纳爵将这篇「准备祈祷」描述为向天主祈求这样的恩宠:
「愿我一切的意向、行动与作为,都纯然指向赞颂并事奉天主的尊威。」(《神操》,第 46 条)
你可以尝试以下这些词句来祈祷:
主啊,我深切渴望为这段时光做好准备。
我真心愿意使整个自己,向祢敞开、保持警醒、随时可用。
求祢帮助我澄清并净化我的意向。
我内心常有许多彼此冲突的渴望,也容易被那些并不真正重要、也无法长存的事物所占据。
我知道,只要我将我的心交付给祢,我所做的一切,都会随之而被更新。
在我今日的全部所是中,在我努力去做的一切里,
在我所有的相遇与省思中——甚至在挫折与失败之中,
尤其是在这段祈祷的时光里,
在这一切之中,愿我将我的生命交托在祢手中。
主啊,我属于祢。请按祢的旨意塑造我。阿们。
Consciousness Guide
What is it?
This is similar to the Examen prayer that is part of the Ignatian tradition, and involves looking back over the past 24 hours, to see where God has been working in your life. We can look at moments of both “consolation”, where we felt God’s love, grace and mercy, and also at moments of “desolation” where we may not have experienced God’s presence, or may have turned away from God and from love in some way, and fallen short. We give thanks to God for what was good, and ask God’s mercy and forgiveness for what was difficult or for where we failed.
Practice:
Introduction to the Review of Consciousness
If it is true that God is at work in every detail of our lives, how do we begin to recognise his action and our reaction?
At the end of the day, especially before going to sleep, the mind, without any conscious effort on our part, tends to play back some of the events of the day so vividly that if the day has been particularly eventful we can find it difficult to get to sleep. We may find ourselves re-enacting a quarrel, thinking of the clever and cutting things we might have said if we had been more quick-witted, and so on.
The Review of Consciousness is based on this natural tendency of the mind. It can help us to be more aware of God’s presence and action in our daily lives, and to be more sensitive to where we are cooperating with God’s grace and where we are refusing it.
How to do a Review of Consciousness
Let your mind drift over the last 24 hours, refraining from any self-judgement, whether of approval or disapproval, attending to and relishing only those moments of the day for which you are grateful. Even the most harrowing day includes some good moments, if only we take the trouble to look – it might be the sight of a raindrop falling, or the fact that I can see at all. When people attempt this exercise, they are usually surprised at the number and variety of good moments in the day which otherwise would have been quickly forgotten – obscured, perhaps, by any painful experience in the day. Having remembered the events for which you are grateful, thank and praise God for them.
After thanksgiving, the next step is to recall your inner moods and feelings, noting, if you can, what led to them, but again refraining from any self-judgement. Be with Christ as you look at these moods and beg him to show you the attitudes which underlie them. The important thing is not to analyse our experience, but to contemplate it in Christ’s presence and let him show us where we have let him be in us and where we have refused to let him be. We thank him for the times we have ‘let his glory through’ and ask forgiveness for the times we have refused him entry. He never refuses forgiveness. He knows our weakness far better than we do. All we have to do is show it to him and he can transform our weakness into strength. We can conclude with a short prayer, that also looks forward to the day to come, and asks for God’s help.
Prayer for Review of Consciousness
Lord, you know me better than I know myself. Your Spirit pervades every moment of my life. Thank you for the grace and love you shower on me. Thank you for your constant, gentle invitation to let you into my life. Forgive me for the times I have refused that invitation, and closed myself off from you. Help me in the day to come, to recognise your presence in my life, to open myself to you, to let you work in me, to your greater glory. Amen.
Scripture Guide
What is it?
This is where we read a passage of scripture, slowly and mindfully, and see what strikes us or catches our attention. How is God speaking to us through His Word? Below are some thoughts and exercises on how to do this.
Practice:
Listening to the Word
Read over the passage, slowly, several times and see if any word or phrase stands out for you, and stay with that phrase for as long as you like before turning your attention to any other.
The process is a bit like sucking a boiled sweet (for US readers, hard candy). Do not try to analyse the phrase, just as you would not normally break up a boiled sweet and subject it to chemical analysis before tasting it.
Often a phrase will catch the attention of our subconscious mind’s needs long before our conscious mind is aware of the reason for the attraction. That is why it is good to remain with the phrase for as long as possible without trying to analyse it.
I may find all sorts of distractions running through my mind, but some thoughts, far from being distractions, can become the substance of my prayer. It is as though the phrase of Scripture is a searchlight which plays upon my stream of consciousness, thoughts, memories, reflections, daydreams, hopes, ambitions, fears, and I pray out of the mixture of God’s Word and my inner thoughts and feelings.
Scripture as a Searchlight
The opening verse of the Bible, “Now the earth was a formless void, there was darkness over the deep and God’s spirit hovered over the water”, is describing a present state of affairs, not a past event, and when I pray from the Scriptures I am letting the Spirit of God hover over the chaos and darkness of my being.
When I allow the Word of God to hover over my preoccupations, then anything can happen, for he is the God of surprises. It is important that I do not hide my inner chaos from the Word of God or from myself. We are often so trained that we think it wrong to allow any negative feelings entry into our prayer, especially negative feelings about God. We have to learn to grow out of this training, expressing our feelings and thoughts freely before God and trusting that he is big enough to take our tantrums. There is no point in pretending before God, who knows us better than we know ourselves.
There is no thought, feeling or desire within you which cannot become the substance of your prayer in the light of God’s Word, when you know that God loves the chaos that is you and that his Spirit working in you can do infinitely more than you can think or imagine.
Dealing with Distractions
Trying to pray like this, it may well happen that the mind begins to fill with questions and apparent distractions. How do I know that I am not deceiving myself? How do I know these words are true, that God really does communicate himself through them? Do I really have faith in God? These are valid questions, but for now let them wait. When a child is frightened in the night, the mother goes and lifts the child and says, ‘It’s all right,’ and the child gradually quietens. But if she has a prodigy on her hands who replies, ‘But mother, what epistemological and metaphysical assumptions are you making in that statement and what empirical evidence can you adduce in support of your contention?’ then mother really has a problem in her arms. In prayer we are like that impossible child if we refuse to listen to God until he has measured up to whatever criteria we may care to lay down. We communicate with him first with our hearts. The heart is not mindless: it has reasons, deeper than we can see at first with our conscious minds.
Having left the questions aside for now, what do I do with all the other distractions which flood my mind? I may begin to wonder if I left the gas on, or remember an email I forgot to send. If it is urgent, like the gas, the safest thing is to go and check. With matters that can wait, perhaps jot them down for later. Anything else which comes to mind, far from being a distraction, can become the substance of my prayer.
Inspiration Guide
In this section we give you some thoughts and impressions on which to reflect, in order to help you dive more deeply into the scriptures, and apply them to your own life. These are the thoughts of individuals and so there may be some that speak to you and others that don’t, even some things you agree with and others you don’t. Feel free to take on board only that which you find helpful and simply let go of the rest. Sometimes a word or idea may challenge us, and we may like to bring this to prayer to see if the Lord is speaking to us in a new way, or wants us to learn or understand something new. We pray for open and receptive hearts and minds and try to leave our preconceptions behind as we enter into this “Sacred Space” with God.
对祷指引
概念
这是祈祷中的一个时刻:我们向耶稣——或向我们最能产生共鸣的圣三中的那一位——诉说刚刚在圣经中所读到的内容,或是此刻在我们内心深处所经历的一切,就如同与一位挚友交谈一般。这一刻常被称为与主的“心与心的交谈”。在这交谈中,想象耶稣站在或坐在我们身旁,凝望祂的面容,感受祂注视我们的目光,往往能带来帮助。在这里,重要的不只是向主倾诉,也要聆听祂在内心对我们的回应。这是一个让我们如其所是前来之处,无需伪装、无需掩饰;因为在这位深爱我们的天主面前,我们可以完全做自己。
操练
与耶稣对祷
想象你看见耶稣坐在你身旁。这样做,是把你的想象力交托给信德来使用。耶稣并非以你所想象的方式临在,但祂确实在这里;而你的想象力,正帮助你觉察这份真实的临在。现在,向耶稣说话吧……若周围无人,不妨轻声开口。聆听耶稣对你所说的回应,或你在心中所感受到、所想象祂对你说的话……这正是“思考”与“祈祷”的区别:当我们思考时,往往是在对自己说话;而当我们祈祷时,我们是在与天主交谈。
安东尼·德梅洛 神父(耶稣会),《灵修操练(Sadhana)》,第 78–79 页。
圣依纳爵称这种交谈为一次“交谈祈祷(colloquy)”,并这样说:
所谓的“交谈祈祷(colloquy)”,恰当地说,就如同一位朋友向另一位朋友倾心交谈,或一位仆人向其主上说话:有时恳求一份恩惠,有时为自己的过失而自责,有时倾诉内心的关切,并为这些事向祂请教与求引导。 …. 在交谈祈祷中,我们应当依照所默观的内容来交谈并恳求;也就是说,要根据我此刻的处境——是正遭受诱惑,还是领受安慰;是渴望获得某种德行,或愿意以某种方式更好地整顿自己;是因所默想的事而感到忧伤,或心生喜乐——最终,我应当为某些具体的事,恳切地向主求我内心最深切所渴望的恩典。
圣依纳爵·罗耀拉,《神操》(The Spiritual Exercises),第 54 号、199 号。
Conclusion Guide
This is simply a moment to finish with a final thought or prayer, maybe giving thanks to God or setting an intention for yourself as you go back into the business of the day and your normal life.