Ignatian Retreat in Daily Life

Theme

Discovering God’s dream for me and my own deepest longings.

Grace/Desire

That God will uncover my deepest yearnings and desires – as well as God’s own deep longing for me.

Prayer Material for the Week         (Printable version in Word) 

1.       John 4:1-14   Whoever comes to Jesus Christ never thirsts.

2.       John 10:1-21  Jesus is the Good Shepherd; He knows my name.

3.       Luke 5:27-32  Jesus comes to people like me.

4.       The Courage to Accept Acceptance

5.       Isaiah 55: 1-3; 6-13   “…listen and your soul will live…”

6.       Mark 9:14-30   In search of healing and new life.

7.       Prayer of Consideration:  My Dossier

Prayer

Lord God, Your ever abiding love for us is reflected in all that surrounds us. Your care and concern for us is deeply personal. You sustain and guide us in even the smallest details of our lives. Your love is that of a mother and father for a child. Help us to surrender more fully to your love and rejoice in being your children.

Note on Prayer:   A Way of Praying          (Printable version in Word)

Additional Scripture and Prayer Material

Review of the Week

For Further Reflection and Consideration

Further Note on Prayer

Additional Materials about Prayer

Mark 12: 1-12               Christ comes into my life world. Do I receive him?

Matthew 14: 13-21        Jesus heals and feeds the hungry.

                                    you … God carries you as a parent carries a child.

Deuteronomy 7: 7-9       Not because you are the largest of nations, does God love

                                    you.

Wisdom 11: 22-26         Before you, the whole universe is like a little seed.

You have begun sharing your story and dreams with God and God has been sharing God’s story and dreams with you – all the while reminding you about some aspects of your own story which you have never sufficiently appreciated.

•  If you could take your deepest desire, your vision for yourself in the world, and express it in a story, what would it be?

•  If you were to die five years from now, for what concrete things or ways of behaving would you like to be remembered in an honest obituary about you?

•  What images/memories give you life? A sense of freedom? A sense of well-being and deep peace?

          •  What stories in the recent past capture how you would like to cooperate with God’s dream for the world in the next decade?

 In preparing for your prayer period, find the passage you will pray with beforehand. When you open the book, be aware that you are in the presence of the all compassionate God, the One who ever abides with you and beholds you with longing and delight.

Ask the aid of the Holy Spirit to be in my heart and to open it to God’s grace during this prayer.  I remember the grace for this week:

“That God will uncover my deepest yearnings and desires – as well as God’s own deep longing for me.”

 I take my time here.   Disposing myself in this way is of great importance for what will follow.

                                                 (Printable Version in Word)           

Preparing for the period of prayer

1.   Open to the scripture passage for the day.

2.    Be aware that you are in the presence of the Living God, the One who beholds you with compassion and delight and who is relentless in seeking to bless you with all that is good.

3.  Ask for the Grace/Desire being sought this week:  “I ask that God will uncover my deepest yearnings and desires — as well as God’s own deep longing for me.”

4.  Address this prayer of desire, first to God the Father, then to Mary the mother of Jesus, then to Jesus, the Lord.

*4. Address this prayer of desire, first to God the Source of Life, then to God the Source of Wisdom and Goodness, then to God Creator and Comforter.

During the period of prayer

Now, read the scripture passage slowly, moving your lips or even reading softly out loud (to distinguish this from reading reports or newspapers).

Second, put the scripture aside and from memory write down words or phrases that stay with you. (If you can recall none, check the text or read it once again, then jot down what impresses you.)

Third, take each of the words or phrases you have jotted down and think about it. What does it mean? Who said it? What was the speaker feeling? To whom was the word or phrase addressed? While you are considering this way, you may think of God in the third person.

Fourth: Consciously gather up your thoughts and turn to God our Lord. Now think of God as "You." Tell God what you thought about, and feel in God's presence what you have felt. What would you give to God? What do you want of God?

Concluding period of prayer

Finally, conclude with a colloquy, extolling the goodness of God,  pouring out your thoughts to God, and giving thanks to the Living  Spirit that up to this very moment God has granted you life.

1.  In general, you do not "finish" a passage. A passage is not an assignment; it is a place to find God. Sometimes, you will find almost no meaning in a passage; then, beg God for in­sight and a tender heart, and stay with the passage as long as you can. 

2.       Any passage where you find tremendous meaning, and any passage where you find nothing but dust and boredom — you need to return to these until you know you have done with it. Then go on to another. Praying Scripture has nothing to do with "getting through" passages and books; it has everything to do with letting the meaning and the values of each single word sink into your life.

Review of Prayer                       (Printable Version in Word)

After you have finished reciting the Our Father at the end of your prayer time, take a brief time for another exercise: Review of Prayer.

You already know what a Review of Prayer is like. Imagine that you sit alone after a long visit with a great friend. The two of you covered a lot of ground. You might have talked a bit about poli­tics; about other friends; about your own long-es­tablished friendship. As you sit remembering, you can recall certain sentences that one of you said, and identify definite feelings you had at certain junctures. You know "what you talked about" and can name the general feeling of your time to­gether—good, or wonderful, or painful. You know there are things still unresolved or unfinished, things still to be said.  When you make a Review of Prayer, you do very much that same thing.

•     Jotting down in a notebook what occurs to you, look back over your prayer time to see what you did and what you experienced. Un­derstand, you need not do and experience over again; that's a different exercise. You need only note what you did and experienced.

•     For instance, note how you started. Note the major idea or ideas that occurred to you. What conviction or convictions did you come to? Did you have any strong feelings or emo­tions? Were those feelings peaceful, creative, or holy? Were they rather disturbing, or even fearful? Did you feel love for God? resentful toward God?

•     You may find only one or other thing to note, or you might find a great deal. God will deal with you variously at various times.

•     Try to be careful to note any thoughts, af­fects, convictions that were particularly strong. Did something make you really fear­ful? fill you with disgust? make you doubt your belief somehow? Or did something make you feel very happy in God? give you greater sureness in your choices? make you sense how deep your life in Christ goes? Note each of those carefully, particularly the move­ments that were very strong—the black holes and the volcanoes.

Take the "climate" of your prayer. A still summer afternoon? A stormy winter night?
A breezy morning? A very, very long and dull afternoon?