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JRH
Lenten
Retreat: Week Four
March 21 - 26
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Welcome to this
Lenten Retreat. Following are prayer materials,
reflections, and notes compiled by former JRH director Clem Metzger,
S.J.
to guide your retreat.
The
left
column includes prayer materials and reflections from the
Spiritual Exercises and Lenten liturgies. You may want to have a
Bible on hand for the daily readings, though you may also click
on the reading link to read online using the New
American Bible on the website of the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Take these readings and reflections one
day at a time by bookmarking this webpage and scrolling down as the
week progresses.
Additional aids to your prayer may be
found in the right column and also in
clickable links
throughout this message.
If you wish to return to the main retreat page, hit the
"back" button on your browser or click
here.
May
the Holy Spirit inspire your prayer and guide you through this
retreat.
May your spirituality, centered in Jesus Christ, deepen
in faith, hope and love.
Thank you for making this retreat.
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Lenten
Retreat:
Week Four
Theme: Where
your treasure is, there your heart is.
Grace:
Ask Mary to teach of
her son in a personal way.
The
prayer material for each day of
this week is listed below.
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Day
One: Monday, March
21
Prayer
Material: Matthew 18: 21-35
Reflection:
Forgiveness,
mercy, and reconciliation make for a healthy spirituality.
We do not always get it right, and we do foolish things.
Forgiveness of self and receiving
forgiveness from God - who is rich in mercy and
kindness - is instrumental to a healthy spirituality. The Sacrament
of Reconciliation
is a valuable means to strengthening our relationship with
the Lord and one another. Jesus had a lot to say about the
need to forgive. But for the grace of God there be I.
And so Jesus reminds me not to judge because I don't know
the heart of another.
Something from St. Ignatius:
The strategy of Satan, the Liar & Deceiver, is to
entice me 1) to riches - whether material, spiritual, intellectual, etc. -
that 2) lead me to a sense of power, status, position
- "I thank God I am not like the rest of men."
- and then 3) to becoming
proud, independent,
my own boss, so that no one can tell me what to do: not
even God. Deception and deceit play a significant role in
this approach. I am tricked into thinking that I am
someone who I am not - developing a false notion of self,
my worth, my meaning. In the Gospel this person is
identified as "You fool. This very day your life
will be demanded of you." Pride can lead to ruin
and self-destruction.
At
this point, it would perhaps be helpful to read Part I
of an article about the Rules
for the Discernment of Spirits
developed
by St. Ignatius. If you wish to do so, please
click
here.
Additional
Prayer References
Luke
17: 12-19
- the Ten Lepers
Mark
7: 31-37 - healing
of a boy
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Day
Two:
Tuesday, March 22
Prayer
Material: Jeremiah 7: 23-28
Reflection:
To
live the will of God is to love God. "Whoever
does not love does not know God...Since God loved us
so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has
ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us and
his love is perfected in us."
~I John
4, 7ff
Knowing the will of God and living it day after day is what
Jesus did. "I always do the Will of Him who sent
Me." Discernment is to discover how I am being led.
Both the Holy Spirit and the Evil Spirit can
"work" on the human spirit but for
different reasons. When it comes to discerning God's Will
we are all learners.
If
you would like to try the form of prayer Praying
With the Senses,
please click
here.
Additional
Prayer References
Luke
11: 14-23 - the kingdom
of
Satan
divided
Matthew
14: 22-33 - Jesus
walking on water
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Day
Three:
Wednesday, March 23
Prayer
Material: Mark 12: 28-34
Reflection:
The Way
of Jesus is always the way of love, compassion,
forgiveness, and truth. In contrast to the strategy of
Satan, Jesus urges us to acknowledge and accept our
creaturehood in all its poverty and indigence. ["Blessed
are the poor in spirit."] We are to strip
away illusions that can blind me to a false sense of
identity. To be human is to be vulnerable. This is the
blessing. Humbly and gratefully accepting th truth of
my humanness, of being a creature with innate poverty,
limitations, and weakness can lead to being vulnerable,
open to rejection and possible scorn.
But this attitude and way of living can keep
me in a humble spirit and open to the need of God's
help. Accepting my true self as I am makes possible a life
of trust, faith, and confidence in the providence, love
and saving mercy of God coming to me in Jesus Christ.
Please
click
here if you wish to review a useful
form of quiet
prayer.
Additional
Prayer References
Hosea
6: 1-6;
Luke 18: 9-14
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Day
Four:
Thursday, March 24
Prayer
Material:
John 9: 1-41
Reflection: Spiritual blindness limits our ability to notice the presence
of God around us and working actively within us. The blind
person in the gospel passage for our prayer today
was given sight - both physical and spiritual. ["Do
you believe in the Son of Man?" Jesus asked
the person who had been healed of blindness. [Who
is he, sir, that I may believe in him?"]
Spiritual perception and insight into God's love and
providence for me is the work of the Holy Spirit. The
Spirit can open the eyes of our hearts to notice and
know God is with us. Praying to the Holy Spirit for
light, love, peace and truth is a positive way to grow
spiritually.
If you would like to review Part II of the article on Rules for the
Discernment of Spirits then please click
here.
Additional
prayer references
Isaiah
65: 17-21 -
"I am about to create new heavens."
John
5: 1-16
-
Curing of the sick
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Day
Five:
Friday, March 2 5
Prayer Material: John 4: 46-54
Reflection: Belief in Jesus Christ as the saving power of God is a gift
that we can cultivate by doing "faith" things -
such as praying, listening to Scripture, receiving
sacraments etc. To deepen our relationship with Jesus in
faith, trust, hope and love is the work of the Holy
Spirit. Jesus suggested that we build our lives on solid
rock foundations so that when the winds, rains, and storms
come we are not washed away. Jesus is the solid rock
foundation on whom we center our lives. Daily prayer from
the heart as simple conversation with the Lord helps to
deepen this personal relationship. The question for each
to answer is: "Who do you say I am?"
If you find distractions in prayer
a concern you may want to read some useful reflections on
this. If so, please click
here.
Additional
Prayer References
John
11: 1-44 -
The raising of Lazarus
Matthew
14: 22-33 - Jesus walks on the water
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Day
Six:
Saturday, March 26
Prayer Material: Mark 10: 32-35
Reflection:
The
test of the depth of love is measured when difficulties,
conflicts, embarrassments, losses, and suffering come into
one's life .A Commentator on the Spiritual Exercises of
St. Ignatius, Fr.
John English, S.J. writes: "Ignatius proposes
suffering as a test of love. Ignatius does not mean that a
Christian should not be joyful, but that the acid
test of humility and sharing with another will be found in
suffering." And Jesus would preach: "Greater
love than this no one has than to hand over one's life."
Is this what parents are called to do for their children?
If
you would like to view thoughts from the late Cardinal
Bernadin on letting
go,
please click
here.
Additional
Prayer References
Luke
9: 22-27; Luke 18: 9-14
By
waiting and by calm you
shall be saved.
In
quiet and trust your
strength lies.
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"Nothing
is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling
in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in
love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect
everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in
the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend
your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks
your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in love, stay in love and it will decide
everything."
~Fr.
Pedro Arrupe, S.J.
Former Superior General
of
the Society of Jesus
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Week
4: Prayer Links
Please
click upon the links below for useful materials to enhance
your prayer:
Rules
for Discernment of Spirits:
Part
I
Part
II
Ignatian
method of reflection upon which direction your spirit is
moved: toward or away from God
Quiet
Prayer
Ways
to pray to the Lord by
being silent
and centered
in
his presence
Distractions
& Prayer
Ways
to understand and deal
with
distractions while praying
Examen
of Consciousness
Ignatian
way of reviewing one's
day
is a good prayer habit for
a strong spiritual life
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How to
Begin Prayer
St.
Ignatius
recommends that one's period of prayer begin by: 1)
having a specific time/place for our prayer; 2) call
to mind that I am in God's presence and that the Lord
wants to listen and converse with me; and 3)
pray for a generous spirit during my prayer period.
His prayer
for generosity is:
Lord,
teach me to be generous,
teach
me to serve you
as
you deserve,
to
give and not to count the cost,
to
fight and not to heed the wounds,
to
toil and not to seek for rest,
to
labor and not to ask for any reward,
except
to know it is
your
will I am doing.
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Our
Savior & Redeemer
The
Gospels contain a whole series of "I
AM" sayings as a way for Jesus to explain his
role as the Savior
and Redeemer
sent from God.
For
example, from John's Gospel:
"I am the bread of
life."
[John
6: 35]
"I
am the light of the world"
[John
8: 12]
"I
am the good shepherd"
[John
10: 11]
"I
am the resurrection and
the life."
[John
11: 25]
"I
am the way, and the truth, and the
life."
[John
14: 6]
"I
am the vine, you are
the branches."
[John
15: 5]
These
"I
am" sayings also provide a means of
establishing the divine
nature of Jesus.
Jesus would use this expression regarding himself:
"Before Abraham was, I AM"... and "they
picked up stones to throw at him because he was making
himself equal to God."
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Something
on Spiritual
Maturity
"Spiritual responsibility
is insured only by authentic growth of the capacity to
discern the personal word and will of God for oneself or
for another. This merely reaffirms the central Christian
position which is one of listening to and following the
word of God addressed to the person: "Blessed is he
who hears the word of God and keeps it." A spiritual
maturing adult has grown in the spiritual sensitivity, in
his/her capacity for self-direction, for discerning the
Lord in all things by faith and love, and is consequently
more accountable, that is, responsible, for one's choices
and life before God."
"Only by the light of faith and by meditation on the
Word of God, can one always and everywhere recognize God,
in whom 'we live and move and have our being,' seek his
will in every event, see Christ in all whether they are
strangers, make correct judgments about the true meaning
and value of temporal things, both in themselves and in
their relationship to man's final goal." [
Vatican
II's Decree On The Apostolate of the Laity]
"There is no possibility of a mature faith-growth unless,
between the beginning and the end of its spectrum, there
is inserted personal, incommunicable experience of
entrance into the mystery of Christ's dying and
rising."
[Taken
from article by Fr. Dave Asselin, S.J .titled
"Christian Maturity and Spiritual Discernment"
that first appeared in the Review For Religious.]
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