星期六 10 十月

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.