Lenten Retreat: Week Six  
 

Theme: "Create a holy heart in me, O God give me back the joy of your salvation" [Psalm 51, 12]

Grace: This week ask Mary to intercede for you to come into a deeper, clearer and more personal knowledge, love, and imitation of her Son.

The prayer material for each day of this week is listed below.  

Day One: Monday, April 4 

Prayer Material:  John 11: 45-57    

Reflection:  Caiaphas boldly proclaims "it is better for you to have one man die than to have the whole nation destroyed." How did he come to this conclusion regarding Jesus? 

Scripture presents Mary as "pondering in her heart" the experiences and events in her life.  She must have reflected, wondered, and prayed for understanding and courage.  To free the heart from spiritual blindness and hard-heartedness is the work of the Spirit.  We pray for the light of the Holy Spirit to see with the heart what the Lord is calling each of us to become.  Is there anything that is holding me back from saying "yes" to His Will? Remember the words of Jesus to the two on the way to Emmaus - discouraged and leaving after the crucifixion and death of Jesus:  "Oh, how foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have declared!" [Luke 24, 25]

Would this be a good time to talk to Mary about praying from the heart? Does she have a prominent place in your devotional life?

If you wish to look over a page about how you can make a Review of Prayer, please click here.

Additional Prayer Reference

 John 7: 40-53  

Day Two: Tuesday, April 5

Prayer Material:  Matthew 15: 1-20

Reflection:  The above scripture reference provides some indication on how the heart can become corrupted.  And Paul is very explicit in his letter to the Galatians [5, 16-21], where he writes "...what the flesh desires is opposed to the Spirit and what the Spirit desires is opposed to the flesh; for these are  opposed to each other, to prevent you from doing what you want."  In this powerful passage, Paul also lists the "works of the flesh" before naming, in sharp contrast to these, the "fruits of the Spirit." [Galatians 5: 22-26].

You may have seen the prayer below, in which an Indian chief recognizes the need for people to overcome their blindness to the results of evil intentions:

"Grandfather, look at our brokenness. We know that in all creation only the human family has strayed from the Sacred Way . We know that we are the ones who must come back together to walk the Sacred Way . Grandfather, Sacred One, teach us love, compassion, and honor that we may heal the earth and heal each other." 

~Quoted by David Schiller in

The Little Book of Prayers, pp 328-329

Additional Prayer References

 John 8: 1-11; Luke 18: 9-14

Day Three: Wednesday, April 6

Prayer Material:  Mark 8: 31-38

Reflection: If your good friend began to talk to you about her upcoming death, that she doesn't have much time to live, and that her life is now about finished, what would be your emotional reaction?  Jesus, as we see in the above scripture reference, brought up the subject with his friends.  Peter's reaction may be typical - we want to hold on to family members, friends, and those who mean a lot to us. Letting go of a "dear one" is difficult.  Loss is never easy to endure.  Our spiritual growth will involve an "emptying out" in order to be "enriched" in the love, life, light of God.

A classic scripture reference for this is Philippians 2: 5-11,where Paul describes the mystery of Jesus "who willingly gave up the right to remain in the form of God" and entered our world as a human being. He lived in humility and obedience and became exalted by God through the resurrection and is now Lord of all creation. We are challenged to imitate his humility and obedience. We can pray for the courage to surrender and to let go without fear or worry.

If you would like a "Helping Hand," then please click here. 

 Additional Prayer Reference

 Luke 9: 21-27  

Day Four: Thursday, April 7

Prayer Material:  Luke 9: 28-36 

Reflection: Consolation and Desolation are two experiences in our spiritual growth. Jesus favored three apostles by giving them the experience of the Transfiguration. It was a powerful "consolation" and Peter would say: "it is good for us to be here." The experience of Consolation is God's way of giving hope, courage, and strength to a person in one's spiritual journey. You may experience a sense of God's presence, a special heart-felt peace, or a sense of well-being in your prayer or at other times.  Such strengthening of one's faith, hope, and love is what St. Ignatius would call Consolation.

If you would like to further review this topic of spiritual consolation, please click here.  More information on spiritual desolation will be provided below on Day 6.

Day 5: Friday, April 8

Prayer Material:  Luke 7: 1-10

Reflection: Little did the Roman centurion know that he would be quoted in every Catholic liturgy: "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I will be healed."  A humble heart is willing to accept God's forgiveness and healing in one's life. The liturgy begins with an appeal for mercy and forgiveness.  We are reminded to come to the table of the Lord in a state of peace with God and with one another. Reconciliation with family and friends makes for community peace and unity.  Receiving the Lord in the Eucharist is the bonding power for the Community of believers.  Division, separation, and divorce are contrary to the prayer of Jesus "that they all may be one in us." Is our community united, at peace, with its members in harmony with one another? "Peace" is my gift to you, says the Lord. Is this my experience?

The Kingdom meditation and the message of the King invite us to join Jesus as His Companion and Friend and to work with Him in establishing a Kingdom of justice, mercy, and peace. In this way Ignatius hoped that our lives would be directed to God's greater glory. If you wish to verify your understanding of the Ignatian motto A.M.D.G., please scroll down to the lower-right hand column of this webpage.  If you wish to refresh your memory of the King & His Kingdom meditation from Ignatius, please click here.  

   Day Six: Saturday, April 9

Prayer Material: Luke 6: 27-36

Reflection:  The love of God is love without conditions. It is always there - no matter who I am or what I do. It is the love of service, of compassion, of forgiveness: unconditional and absolute.  In I Corinthians 13, 1-13, Paul wrote a deeply-moving description of love - "Love is patient, love is kind..." - that has become a staple in wedding liturgies. The strong test of one's authentic love is how I love those whom I dislike, who have hurt me or my family, or have lied to me. To love one's "enemy" can challenge the heart just as we challenge the heart of God at times with our unholy attitudes or behavior.  Jesus revealed the love of God, the heart of God. The truth he revealed is that God loves me as I am and asks that I love myself and others as we are.

Consider these words from John's gospel: "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life. Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him...And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil." [John 3, 16-20]

Because this is a tough teaching from the Lord a person may tend to become discouraged from falling short so easily and frequently. It is challenging to accept one's own humanity and human frailty, that we are "vessels of clay," as Paul puts it. And the Diabolical One, whom Ignatius refers to as the "enemy of human nature," can get under the skin of a person and raise doubts about one's sincerity, integrity, good will, etc. It may even get a person discouraged and disgusted with self at such little progress.  A sort of desolation sets in and darkens one's attitude and outlook on life, self, others, and God.

If you wish to consider and reflect upon the Ignatian understanding of Spiritual Desolation, please click here.

"If we feel a disorder in our attachment to a person, to a job or position, to a certain dwelling place, a certain city, country, and so on, we should take it to the Lord and pray insistently to be given the grace to free ourselves from such disorder.  What we want above all is the ability to respond freely to God.  All other loves for people, place, and things are held in proper perspective by the light and strength of God's grace."

~St. Ignatius of Loyola, Spiritual Exercises, #16

Week 6: Prayer Links

Please click upon the links below for useful materials to enhance your prayer:

Review of Prayer

A way to reflect upon what you did or experienced in your prayer

Spiritual Consolation

 Movement of the spirit away from self 
toward God

Spiritual Desolation

Movement of the spirit away from God 
toward self

Examen of Consciousness

This staple of Ignatian prayer is a powerful way to review the day and nourish awareness 
of the movements of one's spirit

How to Begin Prayer

St. Ignatius recommends that the prayer period begin by 1) having a specific time/place for my prayer; 2) calling to mind that I am in God's presence and that the Lord wants to listen and converse with me; and 3) praying 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.

Week in Review

How did your prayer go this week? 

Did you experience any consolation moments of peace or gratitude? Did you find it hard or easy to pray?

Did the love of God come clearer to you? Any consolation of being loved as I am?   

God is always "working" in the life of each person. Do you find this to be true in your life? How?

Take, Lord, and receive
all my liberty,
my memory,
my understanding,
and my entire will,
all that I have and possess.
You have given all to me.
To you, O Lord, 
I return it.
All is yours.
Dispose of it
according to your will.
Give me your love 
and your grace.
That is enough for me.

~St. Ignatius of Loyola

AMDG

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