Second
Week
Prayer
Units
(Unit
15 -- 22 )
Prayer
Unit 15
Theme: |
The Kingdom Exercise presents Ignatius' image
of Jesus revealing God's dream for the world. The themes of this exercise
give the context for the Gospel Contemplations on Jesus' public life. Hopefully,
by attending to Ignatius' personal image/myth transformed in Jesus, you
will be more disposed to hear God's call during this Exercises journey. |
Grace: |
To ask for what I desire -- to
discover Jesus in my own personal story so that I, in love with him, may
be more open to hear his call in the unique and concrete circumstances
of my life. |
Prayer
Texts:
a) Mt 3:13 |
Jesus leaves home. Spend the last
few days at home with him just before he leaves for his journey to the
river Jordan. Listen to him share the dream of his heart and listen to
Mary recall some of her stories that have been important for them. |
b) Mt 3:13 |
Be with Jesus as he takes his leave
from his mother and relatives and accompany him to the Jordan. Share your
hopes, dreams, and desire to follow his Spirit in your own life. |
c) Mt 3:13-17 |
Go with Jesus to the Jordan River
and be with him during his baptism. See how the Spirit is giving him a
deeper sense of his own story. |
d) Kingdom |
Consider Ignatius' dream and its
possible fulfilment in Jesus [91]-[98]. |
e) Kingdom |
Through his personal image or parable,
Ignatius was connected with God's dream for the world. Spend some time
in fashioning your personal image which can engage you with God's dream
for the world:
— If you could take your deepest desire and vision for the world, and
express it in a personal myth or story, what would it be?
— What kind of person would embody this vision? — What would be an
appropriate and expected response to this person?
— Since Jesus is the embodiment of all one's deepest desires, what
prayer or offering do you desire to make now? |
f) Repetition |
|
Additional Readings for reflection
outside prayer times:
Wis 9 |
As Jesus leaves home, Solomon's prayer
for wisdom may very well have been Jesus' prayer expressing his own deeply
felt dreams and desires. |
Lk 14:25-30 |
Jesus invites us to make a radical
commitment to his Abba in the same way that he did in his own life. |
Jer 1:4-10 |
The experience at the Jordan may
have been similar to the call of Jeremiah. |
Acts 10:34-38 |
This is Peter's description of Jesus'
experience in the Jordan River |
Ps 89 |
which was an overwhelming consolation,
like the anointing described in this psalm. Through this consolation, Jesus
was anointed, and perhaps, he came to understand himself and his story
as the suffering servant. |
Is 42:1-9; Is 49:1-7 |
These servant texts give an idea
of the meaning of the consolation Jesus received in the Jordan. |
Lk 9:23-26; Lk 9:57-62 |
Jesus calls us radically to a form
of poverty and self-renunciation, |
Eph 4:17-24 |
to lay aside our former way of life,
to acquire a spiritual way of thinking -- to make choices according to
deeper desires, |
2Cor 5:15-21 |
and to join him in the work of reconciliation. |
2Cor 12:7-10 |
Despite our weaknesses, God acts
through us with the Spirit's presence and strength. |
Prayer
Unit 16
Theme: |
After being strengthened and becoming more
sensitive through his desert experience, Jesus begins his public and political
life. |
Grace: |
To ask for what I desire -- a
deep-felt knowledge of God become human for me so that I might love Jesus
more and follow his Spirit more closely. |
Prayer
Texts:
a) Mt 4:1-11 |
Be with Jesus as he is tempted in
the desert. |
b) Lk 4:14-32 |
Accompany Jesus as he experiences
rejection from the people of his own town. |
c) Repetition |
|
d) Repetition |
|
e) Application of Senses |
|
f) Two Standards |
[136]-[147]. |
How am I being called to cooperate with others in developing a more caring
world? If I am to be a follower of Jesus, and given my own personal story
and gifts, what elements or nuances would characterize my following of
Jesus? The tapestry of Jesus' life is woven from many threads and colours.
Which of these threads and colours need to be part of my own tapestry?
Poverty of spirit means that my confidence
is in God alone, not even in my own talents or gifts or achievements. It
is to open to God all the resources of my intellect, heart, possessions
and time. It is to cooperate consciously with God's dream for planet earth
in my plans, endeavours and choices. It means that I am sufficiently detached
from such things as my need for approval, esteem, possessions, etc. so
that I am dependent only on God's Spirit.
Additional Readings for reflection
outside prayer times:
Rom 5:18-19 |
In the desert, Jesus is tempted to
be disobedient to his call and follow the way of political or miraculous
power. By overcoming these temptations, he reverses our disobedience symbolized
in the story of Eve and Adam. |
Ps 94:17-23 |
There he experienced poverty of spirit
-- empty of all resources except his dependence on his Abba, |
Ps 91 |
and so over and over again, he places
his trust in his nurturing God. |
Heb 4:14-16; 5:7-10 |
This is a description of the kind
of struggle he went through, |
Sir 51 |
and so at the end of it, his prayer
might very well have been like this. Through his struggles he recalled
and relearned and received the wisdom that was to be his during the next
three years during which |
Mk 8:31-33 |
he would be able to recognize the
same tempter again in another way. |
We can rely on a power
at work in nature and the human heart, a power, a truth
that will heal and unite us.
We will join the dance of the universe, find
our common ground
here in our garden home -- the earth.
-- from "Wounded Earth, Wonder Earth,"
the 1989 calendar by Mary
Southard
Failure is implicit in challenge.
It wouldn't be a challenge if we knew we could
do it.
-- from "The Woman's Comfort
Book" by Jennifer Louden
Prayer
Unit 17
Theme: |
The more we to notice the Spirit's urgings leading
us to hear God's call in the concrete and practical dimensions of our living,
the more we experience the tug of riches, the desire for esteem, and the
desire for independence. In seeking to imitate Jesus more effectively,
we hope to become more dependent on God than on anything we are or possess. |
Grace: |
To ask for what I desire -- a growing
ability to recognize the deceits of Satan in the decisions I make and the
strength to guard myself against them. I also ask for a deepening knowledge
of Jesus, my Lord and Saviour, so that I may make decisions according to
his standard and approach. |
Prayer
Texts:
In the a), b) and f) texts below, use a slightly
different method of prayer -- begin with more of a rumination with God.
In the other periods, begin with Gospel Contemplation.
a) Two Standards |
with the Triple Colloquy. Pay attention
to the first part of the exercise and try to see the application of this
both to yourself as an individual and to yourself as a person being influenced
by your own culture. |
b) Two Standards |
with the Triple Colloquy. Pay more
attention here to the second part of the exercise. Try to see the application
of this in the unique circumstances of your life. |
c) Lk 6:17-23 |
The beatitudes express the standard
of Jesus. Enter into the event that is described. Be present and listen
as Jesus is speaking. Allow his words to affect you. The beatitudes are
not a list of what you must achieve before God. Rather they are a description
of how God sees you when you have entered a deep relationship with Jesus. |
d) Repetition or
Lk 18:18-30 |
The call of the rich person with the Triple Colloquy. |
e) Repetition |
with the Triple Colloquy. |
f) Three Classes
of Persons |
[149]-[156]; read carefully
notation
[157]. |
Additional Readings for reflection
outside prayer times:
Mt 13:24-30, 36-43 |
Parable of the weeds and the wheat;
both weeds and wheat exist within us individually and within the social
structures of our world. |
Mk 6:17-44 |
The image of the two banquets is
the image of the two standards. |
Mk 10:35-45 |
Generous persons like James and John
often seek to follow Jesus out of a desire for significance. |
1Pt 2:1—3:17 |
Peter applies the call to poverty
of spirit to persons of his culture? How does this apply to me and my culture? |
Even during the high tide
of our passing time, we still keep on arranging that elegant tie which
presents us formally to the indifferent world.
-- from "Reflections and Preoccupations"
by Jaroslav Havelka
Prayer
Unit 18
Theme: |
According to the unique circumstances of
my life (i.e., health, social environment, finances, personality, time,
family character, gifts, feedback from others, desires, etc.), Jesus desires
that I consciously cooperate with others in the enterprise of his Spirit
and the desire of his Abba. |
Grace: |
To ask for what I desire -- enlightenment
concerning the area(s) of my living that require decisions at this time;
and enough freedom to know and make choices in harmony with God's desires
for me. |
Prayer
Texts:
The prayer material of a) and b) is intended
as a help to discover the matter around which God desires that I make a
decision at this time. If this is not appropriate here, I can choose two
texts from the additional readings below. Prayer exercise c) is a meditation
to help in the same way; but it will also show me whether or not I am ready
now to enter into the decision-making process.
a) I imagine
a person before me, one whom I have never met before. S/he is seeking my
advice concerning the areas of her/his life that call for some decision-making.
I listen as s/he talks to me. S/he describes all her/his experiences of
the Spiritual Exercises from the beginning until this time -- the insights,
the graces received, the desires welling-up in her/his heart, the urging,
the difficulties, etc. -- and asks for my opinion as to what areas need
decisions. I help clarify things for her/him. Then I dialogue with Jesus
about it.
b) I imagine
myself several years from now at the point of death. With the freedom and
clarity of this vantage point, what material do I wish I would have considered
for decision-making during the weeks of these Spiritual Exercises:
job? family? apostolate? recreation? lifestyle?
I dialogue with Jesus about it.
c) Three Classes
of Persons |
[150]-[157]
with the Triple Colloquy. |
d) Jn 1:35-51 |
Call of the apostles. |
e) Lk 5:1-Il |
Call of Peter |
f) Repetition |
|
Additional Readings for reflection
outside prayer times:
Matthew Chapters 5 through 7 ---
Sermon on the Mount.
Lk 9:59; Lk 12:16-21; Mt 7:21;
Mt 13:45-46; Mt 19:16-22
Mt 19:27-30; Mt 25:24-25; Mk 12:41-44
Responding to my challenge to
him to mortify and go against his personal pattern of operating, my friend
wisely replied, "I don't want to do mortification.
I don't want to focus on this as a battle
to be fully engaged in and won -- because the battle comes out of a paradigm
of enmity. I want to change the paradigm to one of friendship; and then,
instead of conquering the enemy territory and leaving it in ruins,
I am invited to walk in it as a friend."
-- David Howells
Prayer
Unit 19
Theme: |
.Jesus' public ministry. |
Grace: |
To ask for what I desire -- a
deep-felt knowledge of God become human for me so that I might love Jesus
more and follow his Spirit more closely. |
Prayer
Texts:
a) Jn 2:1-11 |
The wedding feast at Cana. |
b) Lk 7:1-10 |
Cure of the centurion's servant. |
c) Mk 5:25-34 |
Healing of the woman with a haemorrhage. |
d) Repetition |
|
e) Application
of Senses |
|
f) Three Kinds
of Humility |
[165]-[168]. |
Additional Readings for reflection
outside prayer times:
Mt 15:21-28 |
Jesus encounters the Canaanite woman. |
Mt 15:29-31 |
Jesus heals suffering people. |
Mt 19:13-15 |
Jesus blesses children. |
Lk 10:38-42 |
Jesus visits Martha and Mary. |
Lk 17:11-19 |
Jesus heals the ten lepers. |
Lk 7:36-50 |
The sinful woman washes the feet
of Jesus. |
Jn 4:4-42 |
Jesus encounters the Samaritan woman
at the well. |
Spirituality is a matter
of trust -- like trusting that the water will hold up your boat, or even
that you can get out of the boat and swim.
-- David Howells
Prayer
Unit 20
Theme: |
Jesus' public ministry -- he confronts the
unjust social structures of his day. |
Grace: |
To ask for what I desire -- a
deep-felt knowledge of God become human for me so that I might love Jesus
more and follow his Spirit more closely. |
Prayer
Texts:
a) Three Kinds
of Humility |
The third kind of humility is often
experienced by those who carry out their Christian calling in the public
domain. |
b) Mk 2:23-28;
Lk 6:6-11 |
Jesus confronts the unjust structures
imposed by the Pharisees -- "The Sabbath is made for people and not people
for the Sabbath." |
c) Mt 23:1-19 |
Jesus preached not only against their
personal hypocrisy but also against those structures that kept people oppressed. |
d) Jn 2:13-22 |
Jesus casts the vendors out of the
temple. |
e) Repetition |
|
f) Repetition |
or the Application of Senses. |
Additional Readings for reflection
outside prayer times:
Lk 4:14-22 |
Jesus declares his mission -- God
has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives. |
Lk 7:18-23 |
Jesus explains his mission and work. |
Lev 19:1-2, 11-18 |
You must not exploit or rob ... you
must love your neighbour as yourself. |
Is 1:10-26 |
What do I care about your sacrifices?
Make justice your own ... redress the wronged. |
Is 58:1-12 |
The fast that pleases me is to break
the unjust shackles and undo the thongs of the yoke. |
Is 61 |
The Spirit of God is upon me to proclaim
justice ... they will be called oaks of justice. |
Is 65:17-25 |
A vision of a renewed world -- no
longer shall there be an infant who lives but a few days ... wolf and lamb
shall feed together. |
Lk 16:19-31 |
Parable of the rich man and Lazarus. |
To Follow Jesus Completely
My Lord Jesus, may I love you completely with my entire self and embrace
totally and without hesitation whatever you embraced. Therefore may I love
the world as you loved it and abhor worldly wisdom of falseness, greed
and pride as you abhorred them.
As persons, living according to worldly wisdom, love and eagerly seek approval
of others, a good reputation, status and "the good life;" may I loyally
follow you and eagerly desire the contrary.
I love you so much and so appreciate what you have done for me that I desire
to be like you in all things. I desire to live life in your skin — that
is, to use your approach in my choices leaving myself open to experience
the consequences you experienced.
Therefore if it could be done without hurting anyone else or disappointing
our Caring God, I desire to be insulted, rejected, and written off as a
nobody in order to be more like you, my loving Lord Jesus, and follow more
closely in your footsteps. You are the true way that leads us to life.
If worldly wisdom can make its adherents greedily love the approval of
others, status, riches, pursuit of the illusions of one's ego how much
more can you make your followers love integrity, poverty, rejection and
the cross!
---
adapted from a prayer from the Liber Devotionum
Prayer
Unit 21
Theme: |
Jesus' public ministry. |
Grace: |
To ask for what I desire -- a
deep-felt knowledge of God become human for me so that I might love Jesus
more and follow his Spirit more closely. |
Prayer
Texts:
a) Mt 14:13-21 |
Jesus feeds an immense crowd of people. |
b) Mt 14:22-33 |
Jesus walks on the water. |
c) Mt 17:1-13, 22-23 |
Jesus is transfigured and he speaks
about his rejection and suffering. |
d) Repetition |
|
e) Repetition |
|
f) Application
of Senses |
|
Additional Readings for reflection
outside prayer times:
Mt 8:23-27 |
Jesus calms the storm. |
1Kgs 19:9-13 |
Elijah discovers God in the quiet
breeze. |
Jn 6 |
Multiplication of the loaves and
the discourse on the bread of life. |
On the Preaching
|
of Jesus -- |
Lk 19:47-48
|
Jesus preaches in the temple. |
Mk 12:35-44
|
He teaches according to the idiom
of his listeners. |
Jn 7:14-52
|
He teaches only that which is given
to him by his Abba. Many reject him. |
Lk 10:1-24
|
Jesus missions the seventy disciples
to help him in his work. The person who hears you hears me. |
Prayer
Unit 22
Theme: |
Jesus' public ministry draws to a close. |
Grace: |
To ask for what I desire -- a
deep-felt knowledge of God become human for me so that I might love Jesus
more and follow his Spirit more closely. |
Prayer
Texts:
a) Jn 11:1-44 |
Jesus calls Lazarus from the tomb. |
b) Mt 26:6-16 |
The supper at Bethany. |
c) Mt 21:1-11 |
Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey. |
d) Repetition |
|
e) Repetition |
|
f) Application
of Senses |
|
Additional Readings for reflection
outside prayer times:
Jn 11:45-54 |
The leaders of the people decide
on the death of Jesus ... it is better that one man suffer for the nation. |
Ps 27 |
God is my light and salvation. Whom
need I fear when evil people advance against me? |
Ps 55 |
A prayer in persecution. |
Mt 11:25-30 |
Come to me all you who labour and
are burdened. |
Lk 13:34; 19:41-44 |
Jesus weeps as he looks over Jerusalem. |
Ps 118 |
Jesus is the stone rejected by the
builders and Jesus will become the keystone ... blessings on them who come
in the name of God. |
Ps 122 |
I rejoiced when I heard them say,
"Let us go to God's house." |
Is 42:1-9 |
Suffering servant song. |
Units
(1-5) Disposition Weeks click here.
Units
(6-9) First Week click here.
Units
(10-14) Second Week (Jesus' Hidden Years) click here.
Units
(15-22) Second Week (Jesus' Public Life & Ministry) click here.
Units
(23-30) Third & Fourth Weeks (Death & Resurrection) click here.
Supplementary
Prayer Units click here.
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