Notes from our first week’s gathering
Ξ February 11th, 2008 | → 0 Comments | ∇ Articles |
This Week’s Main Thrust: “Pay attention to your feelings”
Here are a few things that I personally found helpful to me this week, so I wanted to pass them on to you!
Augustine writes:
“You have forgiven and covered up my past sins, blessing me in you
and changing my soul by faith and by your sacrament; yet when the
confessions of these past sins are read and heard, they rouse up the
heart and prevent it from sinking into the sleep of despair and say-
ing, ‘I cannot.’ Instead they encourage it to be wakeful in the love
of your mercy and the sweetness of your grace.”
Starting a Spiritual Autobiography
Use these questions below to get you started:
What have been the high points of your day?
What have been the low points of your day?
Have you ever felt like God was trying to tell you something?
Who are the people that have loved you for who you really are?
What experiences in your life have caused you the most suffering?
What gives you the greatest happiness?
What experiences have most formed the person you are today?
Who have been your heroes?
Who are the people whom you have hated most?
What did you learn about God from your family?
Who in your life is an example of saintliness?
What is most valuable to you?
What is your experience, if any, of religious education?
What have been the most fun experiences in your life?
What are your talents, and how have you used them?
THE EXAMEN
A second useful beginning exercise in the spiritual life is the examen,
which Ignatius himself counseled was the single most important exer-
cise for a person to do every day. In essence, it is about taking a good
look at our choices in life and asking whether they have made us bet-
ter persons. Over time, the examen helps us to take regular inventory
of our spiritual lives. By praying the examen, we become more adept
at listening to God and working with God in the ongoing project of
building a good life.
Steps in Making the Ignatian Examen
1. We begin by quieting ourselves. Become aware of God’s goodness, the gifts of life and love.
Be thankful. Recall that without faith, the eyes of love, the human world seems too evil for God
to be good, for a good God to exist.
2. Pray for the grace to see clearly, to understand accurately, and to respond generously to the
guidance God is giving us in our daily history.
3. Review in memory the history of the day (week, month, etc.) in order to be shown concrete
instances of the presence and guidance of God and, perhaps, of the activity and influence of evil.
These can be detected by paying attention to strong feelings we experienced that may have
accompanied or arisen from situations and encounters.
4. Evaluate these instances in which we have either collaborated with God or yielded to the
influence of evil in some way. Express gratitude and regret.
5. Plan and decide how to collaborate more effectively with God and how, with God’s
assistance, to avoid or overcome the influence of evil in the future.
My prayer is that you become more fired-up for God, and feel His presence stronger than ever this second week.
Keep seeking Him, keep pursuing Him… You can do it and it will pay off!
- Pastor Rik
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