Letters from Maryland on Ignatian Spirituality

#5 LETTERS FROM MARYLAND ON IGNATION SPIRITUALITY
Today's letter from Jean depicts a popular Jesuit writer on Ignatian spirituality. I have read and enjoyed all his books; he is one of the contemporary writers that my students enjoy reading.

Some Writings of Thomas Green, S.J.
"An internationally recognized writer on Ignatian spirituality is Thomas Green, S.J. who died last March. His nine published books are treasures of learning the art of prayer; the clarity and organization reflect the author’s decades of teaching, counseling and directing the Exercises. He has said he tried not to write the same book twice and that each one tackles a different aspect in the life of contemplation in action. To aid the reader in seeing the unifying threads and getting the most from his books he has grouped them under 3 headings: the Dynamics of Formal Prayer, Books Explicitly Treating Discernment and Books Discussing the Links Between Formal Prayer and Discernment in Specific Life Situations.
The books in the Dynamics of Formal prayer category are Opening to God, When the Well Runs Dry, and Drinking from a Dry Well. The first teaches the 'how to’s' of a beginning prayer life. The second deals with prayer beyond the beginnings and specifically accepting the dryness which St. John of the Cross says is the normal lot of anyone who perseveres in a life of prayer. The third discusses what God is doing and how we can best cooperate after we have come to be at home in the dry darkness of contemplation.
The books explicitly treating discernment are Weeds Among the Wheat and Darkness in the Market Place The latter is an earlier work that laid the foundation for later discussion of the mechanics of discernment. It asks what sort of person one must be, what faith version of life and experience is needed in order to be able to discern the Lord’s will. In the former, the author attempts to explain and apply to contemporary culture the classic rules of St. Ignatius Loyola for discerning God’s will in our life choices. NOTE: the author recommends starting the book with Chapter 3.
I will discuss one book from the third category of links between prayer, discernment and everyday life situations. It is called, Prayer and Common Sense and focuses on the extremely important quality of any genuine life of prayer: common sense. “God is really the most sensible person I know… anyone truly growing in holiness should be becoming more like God – more sensible.” We recognize the ‘Holy Person’ by Galatians 5:22 – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, trustfulness and self-control. Those qualities in our unsteady growth lead to freedom.
His books are all still available and highly recommended. They are like having a warm, wise, supportive Jesuit director on call.

Letters from Maryland on Ignatian Spirituality

Before printing another letter from Maryland, Jean asked me to make the correction about my mistake yesterday in giving her a doctorate. Here is what she wrote for me to say:
"Jean has corrected me that she has the course work to a doctorate and she gives this self description, 'She is now retired after a career in the helping professions of nursing, counseling and teaching college level psychology'."

I will refrain from more, but she is a wise and valiant woman and you will learn from her Letters on Ignatian Spirituality.
#2 LETTERS FROM MARYLAND ON IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY


“The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius”

"One of the old stand-bys on my book case is a well worn copy of the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. That notwithstanding, the Exercises is not a book to be read but to be “made”. It was written by Ignatius based on his own prayer experiences and was intended to be used by the person directing others on retreat not the one making it .It has rightly been called a “school of prayer” and relies on a carefully structured approach based on Scriptural passages and the use of the active imagination in prayer.
It is interesting to note that it was written and first used to guide others by Ignatius while he was still a lay man. And it, of course, was written after his injury at the battle of Pamplona that left him with a permanent limp. A former director of the National Catholic Office for Persons with Disabilities pointed out that it was only after he was disabled that he began to choose correctly.
It originally was designed for those who would leave the duties of everyday life and fully concentrate on the prayer exercises at hand over the course of a long period of time. Traditionally that became 30 days using the 4 “weeks” structure of the Exercises. The “weeks” are more accurately depictions of the prayer topics involved and are described by David Fleming, S.J. as follows:

First Week – The context of God’s love and rejection by everyone through sin

Second Week – Centers on the life of Jesus and his beginnings through his public ministry

Third Week – The passion and death of Jesus

Fourth week – The Risen Christ and the world renewed in his victory.

The retreatant moves from ‘week’ to ‘week’ according to the grace which God gives. The Director determines whether the time of the “week” should be shortened or lengthened.
Many retreatants today are experiencing the Exercises in what is called Annotation 19 or the Exercises in Daily Life. Rather than going off to a retreat house for a month the person stays home with family and work responsibilities as usual and prays the Exercises an hour a day and meets weekly with a Director. Some make it as part of a group Direction experience.
Whether made at a retreat house or at home over the course of 9 months or more, the most important qualities to bring to the Exercises are a deep reverence before God, openness and generosity of spirit.
The purpose of the Exercise structure is to lead the person to true spiritual freedom attained by gradually bringing an order of values into our lives so we make no choice or decision because we have been influenced by some disordered attachment or love (Fleming).
The Exercises use active contemplation, putting oneself in the scripture settings in an imaginative way. One can learn more of this from, websites such as Sacred Space run by the Irish Jesuits or from Creighton’s Online Ministries’ site or by reading Fleming’s book, What Is Ignatian Spirituality where he discusses among other things, “Prayer is a Conversation” and “Pray with your Imagination”.

Through Julian's Windows

I did mention Obbard's book Through Julian's Windows in an earlier blog but did not add the book to my list of good spiritual reading. Now, I have done so and think that it is a book worth reading and reflecting over this summer. She quotes other mystics and gives a space for reflection as well as some prayers.
I am preparing you for my time away as I will not be writing my blog from July 8 to August 22. I am giving myself and you a long vacation as I will be attending a higher education meeting for the Society of the Sacred Heart at the University of San Diego and then making a month of retreat. I look forward especially to the month of prayer- July 15 to August 15- at the retreat house of the Sisters of the Holy Names; I also ask your prayer for this very important time. Our General Chapter will begin on July 16 in Peru so I will also be praying for that and for all of my readers, too. I know that I can count on your prayer, too, and will tell you about my retreat when I again begin writing on August 22.

In today's Gospel, Jesus asks us to come to him. Come to me all you who labor and are burdened and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart and you will find rest for yourselves. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.
It is a great Gospel to leave with you as I take off for San Diego and I hope all of us heed his invitation to come! Jesus wants us to come to him and to learn from him that he is meek and humble of heart. Let us pray for one another.

Do You React or Respond to Life?

I love the image of a bridge and feel that this picture speaks to me on many different levels. The bridge connects me to God, to others, to myself. The book, How Big Is Your God? by Paul Coutinho, S.J., is also a bridge; he connects Ignatius and Eastern spirituality. He has his doctorate in Historical Theology from St. Louis University and so do I, so I feel connected to him and, of course, I am also rather steeped in Ignatian spirituality.
Paul has a short section (all the sections are brief and concise) entitled: "Do you React or Respond to Life? He explains that situations in themselves do not produce feelings. It is "our perception of the situation that makes us feel good or bad...When we live in freedom, we choose the way we respond rather than let our automatic, destructive reactions get the better of us."
How to do this? Paul suggest the "PQR formula" - pause to question how we would like to respond rather than react. Reaction is not freedom. Responding rather than reacting "helps us to live freely and in greater harmony with our true identity in every situation." So, pause, ask how our situation relates to the meaning of my life, and then choose how I want to respond.
This "PQR formula" is not easy to practice but let us begin to try to use it today. I want to RESPOND!

Let us celebrate the birth of a nation

Today is our great national holiday that celebrates the birth of our nation. It is also the feast of St. Elizabeth of Portugal. She was one who always worked for peace and reconciliation. May she make our nation at peace and stop the wars!
The alternate prayer for today is worth reading. I will not copy it here, but it calls us to give thanks; it also calls us to ask God's help for the work that still remains for our country to do so that we will be able to live with freedom for all and live in peace with all peoples.
In the Gospel, Jesus says to Matthew: "Follow me." And he left everything and followed Jesus. He did not look back. May we have that same courage to follow Jesus each time he says to us, "Follow me." The 4th of July is a good time to reflect on the courage we need to let go of our own concerns to be able to follow Jesus more closely. Happy 4th!

Feast of St. Thomas the Apostle

Today is the Feast Of St. Thomas, the Apostle. We have Thomas to thank for his great exclamation, "My Lord and my God!" He was not with the others when Jesus came on that first Easter night. Why? We do not know, but he was told by the others, We have seen the Lord!" Thomas replies that he will not believe until he can see the marks of the nails in his hands and put his finger into the side of Jesus. A week later, even if the doors are still locked, Jesus appears in the midst of his friends and this time Thomas is there with them. Jesus tells him, "Put your finger here and see my hands and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe." And Thomas said, "My Lord and my God." Then Jesus said for us, "Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed."
Lord, we believe, help our unbelief.
I am grateful every day for the gift of faith. However, when our faith is really alive, we see God in every instant of our lives; He is present so I pray for more faith to see this when I read the newspaper and listen to the news. Where is the positive in all that I read and hear? God is there but it takes faith to believe and find God in all things.

Attaining Transfiguration

I have been sharing something of Paul's own transfiguration from Cardinal Martini's book and today I will continue with his thoughts on how we attain and maintain our own transfiguration as this is important for all of us. Martini says that the path to transfiguration is to recognize that it is God who, in his mercy, transfigures us. Then he tell us that the first way of receiving this divine gift is a contemplation of the heart of the crucified Christ that pours out the spirit.
The second way comes through the intercession of Mary. Cardinal Martini says that the gift of a heart transfigured in joy, in praise, in thanksgiving, in perseverance, and in freedom comes through the intercession of Mary. It is Mary who sustains and nourishes the liveliness of faith in us.
The third way to receive the gift of transfiguration comes from sharing, from stretching out a hand in the dark and placing it on the shoulders of someone who sees the light...This is the role of spiritual direction or of conversations in the confessional that are so important because they involve extending hands to one another.
And, finally, the gift of transfiguration needs vigilance. We are limited humans who "grow weary and are not capable of persevering on our own."
Let us pray for our own transfiguration remembering the inner attitudes of Paul, his modes of action, and then the ways to attain and maintain the gift for ourselves!

He controls the storms at sea and within us

Today I reflected on how tired Jesus must have been to be able to sleep in the boat when the storm came up so suddenly and threatened to swamp the boat. The Apostles were terrified and had to wake him up. He used this incident to strengthen their faith and trust in him. I think we all still cry out when the waves get too big in our own lives and we feel that we are going to be swamped and maybe go down, but Jesus is with us and he can make all calm again immediately. Jesus can always control the storms both outside and within us. We need only to trust him.

Yesterday I shared the inner attitudes of Paul from Cardinal Martini's book The Gospel According to St. Paul and today I will tell you what he says about Paul's modes of action. He says that the first mode of action that points to Paul's transfiguration involves "a never-ending capacity to bounce back" and we see this over and over. He tells us that this ability is more than human and is a gift of God.
The second mode of action is characterized by "freedom in the spirit."
Let us reflect on these gifts and pray for them as it is so easy to get discouraged and to give in to pressure of what others think, want, try to dictate, etc. May we always have the grace to bounce back and to act with freedom in the spirit from human respect.