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Week
One: Prayer
Materials & Reflections
Theme:
God is in love with me
- I want to become more aware of this truth.
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Day
One: Monday, February
16
Prayer
material: Luke 11: 1-13
Reflection:
"Fear
not, you shall not be put to shame; you need not blush for
you shall not be disgraced. Your redeemer is the Holy
One of
Israel
, called God of all the
earth. With enduring love I take pity on you says the
Lord, your redeemer. Though the mountains leave their
place and the hills be shaken, my love shall never leave
you nor my covenant of peace be shaken says the Lord, who
has mercy on you."
~Isaiah 54, 1-10
[Click
here to read Part I of an
extended article on the life of St. Ignatius of
Loyola if you wish to become better acquainted
with the author of the Spiritual Exercises.]
Additional
Prayer reference:
Psalm
91, Psalm 145
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Day
Two:
Tuesday, February
17
Prayer
Material: Psalm 104 and/or Psalm 23
Reflection:
"Strengthen
the hands that are feeble, make firm the knees that are
weak. Say to those whose hearts are frightened: 'Be
strong, fear not! Here is your God. He comes to save
you.' Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, the ears
of the deaf be cleared, then will the lame leap like a
stag and the tongue of the dumb will sing."
~Isaiah
35, 1-10
[If
you wish to finish reading the article on St. Ignatius of
Loyola as noted above, please click
here.]
Additional
Prayer references:
Luke 12:22-34, Psalm 16
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Day
Three:
Wednesday, February
18
Prayer
Material: Luke 12, 22-34
Reflection:
"By waiting and by calm you shall be saved. In
quiet and trust your strength lies."
Imagine Jesus is speaking to you about trust and God's gracious
providence to you. How does this scripture passage
from Isaiah 30: 15 affect your attitude or touch your
heart? Is serenity of heart something you experience?
[If
you would like to view a slideshow overview of the Principle
& Foundation of St. Ignatius Loyola, which will
be the focus of the next day, please click
here.]
Additional
Prayer reference:
Jeremiah 29: 11-14
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Day
Four:
Thursday, February
19
Prayer
Material:
The PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION of St. Ignatius [To
view the Principle and Foundation,
please click
here.]
The
Principle and
Foundation is one of receptivity to God's love.
It frees one to yield to God's love.
It permits a person to let God be a tremendous
lover. Ignatius wanted a retreatant to first experience
God's love. And so for a retreatant to come
home and to know how precious and beloved he or she is to
God changes everything. You may want to pray the Principle
& Foundation by re-translating the plural nouns into
the first person singular: "God, who loves me,
creates me, etc"
God desired my beginning. Gratitude and humility are vital
for the authentic spiritual life.
Reflection:
"I am the Lord, there is no other; I form the light
and create the darkness; I make well-being and create woe; I, the
Lord, do all these things.
For thus says the Lord, the Creator of the heavens,
who is God, the designer and maker of the earth
who established it not creating it to be a waste ,
but designing it to be lived in: I am the Lord and there
is no other. There is no just and saving God but me. Turn
to me and be safe all you ends of the earth; for I am God
and there is no other."
~Isaiah
45: 6ff
[Please
click
here for some reflections on the
Principle & Foundation]
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Day
5:
Friday, February 20
Prayer Material: Psalm 139 or Matthew 13: 1-23
Reflection:
"Speak, Lord, your servant is listening."
Listening
to God's voice and recognizing patterns of thinking
and acting that lead to increased true life are some of
the practical results of the movements of the Spiritual
Exercises. The Lord is with you and more interested in
your spiritual growth and becoming the real-dream person
you are meant to become than you are. Simple trust has its
own reward. Honesty works. The Spirit of the Lord is
active in re-creating the human heart. Let your heart
rejoice in the awareness and gratitude of a person
dependent on the Lord God who says: "I have
loved you with an everlasting love."
[If you would like to review some other form of prayer
then click
here.]
Additional
prayer references:
I
Samuel 3: 1-19; Ephesians 4: 29-32
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Day
Six:
Saturday, February
21
Prayer Material: John 3: 16-21
Reflection
"See
how I love you"
says the Lord. In a similar vein, Ignatius writes
"Consider
God's gifts to me. God creates me out of love and desires
nothing more than a return of love on
my part. So much does God love me that even though
I turn away and make little response, this Giver of all
good gifts continues to be my Savior and
Redeemer. All my natural abilities and gifts along
with the gifts of Baptism and the Eucharist and the
special graces lavished upon me, are only so many
signs of how much God our Lord shares divine life
with me and wants to share ever more. My consolation:
who I am by the grace of God!" [Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, # 234]
[If
you would like to read more about the Spiritual
Exercises of St. Ignatius, please click
here.]
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