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Monday, August 3, 2009

Letters from Maryland on Ignatian Spirituality


Here is the last of the wonderful contributions from Jean in Maryland. I will be home and back writing a daily blog as of tomorrow. In the meantime, for your prayer and reflection:

Pedro Arrupe, S.J. was a former Superior General of the Society of Jesus. He has been called “the second Ignatius” being a Basque like him and because of his leadership during an extensive renewal of the Society. He was present during the bombing of Hiroshima and ministered to the victims. Here are 3 of his prayers written over the course of his life.


“Falling in Love with God”

“Nothing is more practical
than finding God,
that is,
falling in love
in a quite, absolute, final way.

What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination,
will effect everything.

It will decide
what will get you out of bed
in the morning,
what you will do
with your evenings,
how you spend you weekends,
what you will read,
who you know, what breaks your heart,
what amazes you with
joy and gratitude.

Fall in love,
Stay in love,
And it will decide everything.”


“Personal Prayer of Pedro Arrupe”

“Grant me, O Lord, to see everything now with new eyes,
to discern and test the spirits
that help me read the signs of the times,
to relish the things that are yours, and to
communicate them to others.

Give me the clarity of understanding that you gave
Ignatius.”


The third prayer of Pedro Arrupe was written while living with the after effects of a stroke that left him severely debilitated.

“In the Hands of God”

More than ever I find myself in the hands of God.
This is what I have wanted all my life from my
youth.

But now there is a difference;
the initiative is entirely with God.

It is indeed a profound spiritual experience
to know and feel myself so totally in God’s hands.”

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