The Baptism of Christ: The Divine King Starts His Campaign
March 19, 2010 | XXIV.
Grace: an intimate knowledge of our Lord, Who has become man for me, that I may love Him more and follow Him more closely.
Text for Prayer: One of the baptism accounts, either from Matthew (3:13-17), Mark (1:4-11), or Luke (3:15-22).
Reflection: For the past two weeks, Jesus has been preparing. He has come onto the scene, He has gathered His forces, presented His strategy and that of the Enemy. Now, with His baptism, the Divine King begins His campaign to overcome the enemies of His Father, and starts His public ministry.
In starting His public ministry, Jesus announces to the people that the promises that the Father made in the Old Testament to bring good news to the afflicted, set captives free, and give sight to the blind “is being fulfilled today” (Lk. 4:21). The covenant God made with His people is presently coming to fruition, and the hope that it gives is embodied in Jesus. On top of this, the fulfillment of these promises is not a secret to be kept and passed on solely among a select few initiates. Jesus does not hide Himself in some distant place, but goes out to be with us. Jesus begins His public ministry to proclaim the news, and to do so in synagogues, streets, and villages all throughout Judea. He and His apostles will eagerly share this news with anyone willing to listen.
First, however, He takes leave of His mother. Jesus being fully human, it would be completely natural for Him to miss her greatly when He left. Mary, for her part, was about to watch the Son she had raised, cared for, protected, and loved for the past thirty years go off. But for all their sorrow, they both knew that this was the Father’s will, and so they both respond with the total generosity so typical for both of them. This is where the Father’s greater glory lies.
Having left His mother, Jesus goes to the River Jordan to receive the baptism of John. At first glance, it would seem to be an appropriate way for Jesus to begin His public ministry. But John’s baptism is not just converting to a new life in God’s covenant, but also a renouncing of the life of sin and violation of the covenant. In Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict points out that in receiving this baptism, Jesus is identifying Himself with sinners. Understandably, John is reluctant. But Jesus tells him that “it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness” (Mt. 3:15). John knows that he has sinned, and is unworthy to be with the Lord. But Jesus knows that it is exactly for this reason that He must be baptized. As sinners, we have rejected God. Yet God comes to us, stands with us, and is counted as one of us in the fullest sense possible. John then baptizes Jesus, immediately after which the heavens were torn open, the Father and the Holy Spirit were present with the Son, and the Father declared “You are my beloved Son.”
Jesus turns the tables completely, and the Divine King routs the Devil. When Jesus received His baptism, He identified Himself totally with sinners. When we sinners receive baptism, we identify ourselves totally with Jesus, even to the point where the Father’s statement “You are my beloved Son” is applied to us, and we become sons and daughters of God, brothers and sisters to Jesus. The fact that our Divine King is now also our adopted brother makes it even easier for us to follow Him. Now, we can know Him and love Him as one could only do for a brother. Jesus has become our brother so that we may know Him more and love Him more, in order for us in turn to follow Him better. This is the grace that Jesus is offering us, and that St. Ignatius is urging us to pray for throughout the Second Week of the Exercises. The question now is how we should best respond.
Questions: What response does being baptized as a child of God demand from you? How can you use the gift of your baptism to better know, love, and follow Jesus? Jesus chose to adopt you as His sibling. What does this mean for your relationship with Him?
Posted by Mr. David Paternostro, S.J. in XXIV.Reform
March 18, 2010 | XXIII.Grace: To sense more deeply the possibility of deep renewal and reform in my life and the desire in God’s heart for that renewal of me.
Text for prayer: Lk. 16:19-31
Reflection: The plan of reform for our lives is according to the dynamic of humility and gratitude. If the path to sin and death and destruction was initiated by an act of rebellion, of pride or arrogance, of taking matters into one’s hands, the way back to life and to freedom is by way of obedience, of looking to the Other and placing ourselves back in His Hands- the hands which shaped us and gave us life in the first place.
Our way back to life and freedom from death and slavery to sin is through poverty and humility. “If we had the courage,” Karl Rahner observed in an essay on prayer, “to renounce inwardly what life takes from us anyway- namely everything…we would notice that we possess everything.” This is the source of true reform of our lives- to let go of everything in order to remember in the depths of our hearts that all has been given by God. From that point on, we are able to live in freedom and gratitude.
Not everyone is called to material poverty, but all are called to a spiritual poverty- that is true freedom, wherein we are not ruled by things we falsely think will bring us happiness. Only God satisfies our infinite longing. Nothing else. Try as we might, nothing else satisfies.
Questions: What is an experience of zeal and excitement I have experienced in the past when I made an important change in my life? Can I “taste” that joy and excitement again? What new freedom in abandonment is the Lord calling me to today?
Posted by Fr. Chris Collins, S.J. in XXIII.Three Modes of Humility
March 17, 2010 | XXII.Think: The Election, as Saint Ignatius calls it, is the final choice we make based on the encounter with God through the Spiritual Exercises. But first we are encouraged to meditate on the Three Modes of Humility so that we might be properly disposed to receive God’s will with openness and obedience. The Three Modes of Humility are really three attitudes toward the service of God and the use of created things, and they are not to be understood as equally good. In other words, some attitudes are more conducive to making us attentive to Our Lord than others. Remember that an attitude, such as the Modes are here, is not a single act but a habitual mission ever before our eyes. In this way, attention given to the Three Modes of Humility should be more than a simple meditation; it should be something we chew on throughout the day.
Grace: We should beg Christ our King to call us to the third and most perfect Mode of Humility in imitation of Him as He carried His Cross. We should repeat this petition as often as we are able all through the day.
Meditate: The first Mode of Humility is to submit yourself to the will of God enough to avoid deliberately committing any grave sins. This should be the case, even if attempting such sins might carry the promise of riches, honors, health and a long life. You should be just as resolute if avoiding the serious sins might bring about poverty, dishonor in the eyes of the world, sickness and even death. This resolution may seem, at first, to be heroic, but in fact it is the bare minimum if you are to expect any sort of life in Christ and openness to His saving grace. Any attitude relying on less would be, by definition, in opposition to God – or at least apathy toward Him and His saving grace. On the other hand, you should keep in mind that this first Mode of Humility is not inconsistent with an actual serious sin from time to time. As prone to error as we all are, no Mode of Humility guarantees that we will never fall into sin. But the attitude here means that we are aware of the worst sorts of sins and we are disgusted enough by them to avoid them for the most part, with the help of God’s grace. A healthy fear of God, humble prayer, and self control will keep yourself sufficiently in this first Mode.
But while this first mode avoids the worst, by keeping in mind that union with God is one’s ultimate purpose in life, it coexists with a desire for the things of this world. It avoids anything that may appear hard or humiliating. This, unfortunately, is the disposition of many who claim
Christ as Lord.
The second Mode of Humility is one step better than the first. It consists in obedience to the will of God to the degree that even lesser sins are usually avoided. One can find this Mode firmly rooted when a person avoids lesser sins even when the sin promises riches, honors, health and a long life. Of course, avoiding these minor sins may also lead to poverty, dishonor in the eyes of the world, sickness and even death; but the second Mode of Humility keeps one resolved to avoid these evils. Real holy indifference is the key here.
The first two Modes are dispositions of the will rooted in avoiding evil. But the third and best Mode of Humility is a disposition of the will aimed at growing more and more perfectly in obedience to the will of God. The third Mode is a determination to do everything possible to please Him, either in avoiding evil or seeking out and doing good. As far as we can, we choose to be poor with Christ poor, to be insulted with Christ insulted, and to be thought fools as Christ was thought a fool. “He humbled Himself by obedience unto death, yes, death on a cross. (Phil 2:8)” This is how we become truly alive in His Resurrection! This Mode of Humility is out of love for Christ our King that we seek to be like Him in every way that we can. This disposition puts us at a position of advantage, ready at the slightest urging of the Holy Spirit to do whatever
is the will of the Father.
Pray:
Soul of Christ, sanctify me;
Body of Christ, save me;
Blood of Christ, inebriate me;
Water from the side of Christ, wash me;
Passion of Christ, strengthen me;
O good Jesus, hear me;
Within Thy wounds, hide me;
Permit me not to be separated from Thee;
From the wicked foe, defend me;
In the hour of my death call me,
And bid me come to Thee,
That with all Thy saints I may praise Thee
For ever and ever. Amen.
The Three Classes: The Test of Sincerity
March 16, 2010 | XXI.Grace: To deepen the sense of my “open-handedness” and generosity with what the Lord has given me.
Text for prayer: Lk. 12:35-48
Reflection: Still in the context of a kind of pause within the Exercises wherein we consider the state of life that the Lord calls us to and in the immediate wake of the meditation on the Two Standards, we continue the reflection on what it means to follow Christ. What kind of a person does it take? What are we in for in casting our lot with Him. At this point, St. Ignatius proposes a consideration of what he calls the three classes, or kinds of people. This consideration is an aide for our own self-understanding and should be a prompting forward for us to engage head-on where it is that we need conversion in our own lives so that we might be able to follow Christ more freely and whole-heartedly.
The image that St. Ignatius uses to illustrate these three classes of people is that each has acquired great wealth and each knows that he or she must get rid of the money in order to do God’s will. This meditation is not so much about the need to get rid of money, but the money is a simple sign which points to whatever it is that we cling to in our lives which takes our affections away from the Lord who loves us.
The first “class” is comprised of those who postpone, even until death, what they know the call of the Lord to be. They know they must become free of the attachment. They want to become free, but they “never take the means” to accomplish that freedom. They remain attached and bound to what keeps them from the Lord.
The second type of persons to consider is the kind who compromise on what they know to be the desire of the Lord for them. They act in a kind of partial response, but they still hold back something for themselves. Perhaps they will do something good with what they’re attached to and in that sense, might be somehow “of God”, but still, the bottom line is that they cannot let go of what they are attached to and they are implicitly insisting that “God must come to where this person desires” and not the other way around. There is still disorder here, even though some efforts in a good direction are made.
Finally, the third class is made up of those who have become utterly free to respond to the call of the Lord. Characteristic of this group is that “indifference” St. Ignatius described at the beginning of the Exercises in the “Principle and Foundation.” Interestingly enough, this type in St. Ignatius’ illustration doesn’t necessarily get rid of the money. Instead, they are free enough to either keep it or get rid of it, but their attention has shifted entirely to what God wants, and not what he or she wants. They are in a position of receptivity here as to what God desires and they have made their own desire only that which greater serves the Divine Majesty.
Questions for reflection: What might I “let go” of in my life for the sake of greater freedom in following Jesus? What am I clinging to that prevents me from being free and happy in the Lord’s sight? What are the compromises I am currently making in this regard?
Posted by Fr. Chris Collins, S.J. in XXI.The Two Standards
March 15, 2010 | XX.Grace: a knowledge of the deceits of the rebel chief and help to guard myself against them, a knowledge of the true life exemplified in the sovereign and true Commander, and the grace to imitate Him.
Text for Prayer: Spiritual Exercises 136-147
Reflection: St. Ignatius—the former soldier—was particularly sensitive to the constant battle being waged within the world between the God who created us with dignity and the forces of evil which look to pervert that dignity to selfish ends. Human beings either praise, reverence, and serve God—thus becoming who they were created to be—or they follow a lie and begin to break themselves down in the core of their being. In this meditation we imagine these opposed paths of life as two armies encamped against each other, led by Christ on one hand, and Satan, the prince of lies, on the other. The grace we are seeking is first, a knowledge of Satan’s ways so that we can guard against them, and second, a knowledge of Christ’s so that we can more easily follow His path.
Each army has its own tactics, which St. Ignatius describes in detail. Imagining Satan sending his minions from Babylon throughout the world to ruin lives, he does not threaten people with physical ruin or force. No, he first entices them with the loves of riches. This love of riches and fear of poverty leads to the further station of love of honors, and once honors are loved, it is only a short step to the overweening pride that is the true mark of a soul separated from God. For it is the prideful soul that most readily follows the maxim “Non Serviam!” “I will not Serve!”
Christ, however, sends his apostles and disciples throughout the world from a lowly place on the plains near Jerusalem. And contrary to all worldly expectations, He does not seek to obtain followers through attractive signing bonuses. The ordeals He went through at the beginning of His life bear witness to this. He simply—the word is not chosen lightly—exhorts his followers to spiritual poverty (i.e., total reliance upon the Father in all matters) and even actual poverty if God so chooses. And if poverty isn’t enough to jar comfortable souls, He even encourages them to accept insults and contempt from the world. St. Ignatius believes if we are detached from the world’s approval we will more easily obtain the true root of all virtues: humility. If we possess humility, the Kingdom is ours. Every virtue flows easily into the soul which possesses it.
Poverty, contempt, and humility. These marks of the Standard of Christ are only possible for a human to bear if there is a God above who is completely loving and trustworthy. The “Good News” of the Gospel proclaims that yes, in fact, this God lives and has revealed Himself in Christ. Shall we follow beneath His banner?
Posted by Fr. Kevin Dyer, S.J. in XX.The Exercises and the Liturgical Year
March 13, 2010As we enter into the second half of Lent, the readings we hear at daily Mass begin to shift focus. Until now we have mainly heard readings from the synoptic gospels which have emphasized our relationship to God, particularly our need to acknowledge our sinfulness and repent. Beginning Monday, the Gospel of John will take precedence. These readings will focus more intently upon the person of Jesus. Two basic questions emerge: who is Jesus and what does Jesus do?
Our retreat follows the same path as the liturgical year. We find ourselves asking the same questions: who is Jesus and what does Jesus do? Let us, therefore, allow the liturgical year to draw us more deeply into prayerful contemplation of the person of Jesus.
Posted by Fr. Kevin Dyer, S.J. in UncategorizedNazareth: The Hidden King
March 12, 2010 | XIX.Grace: an intimate knowledge of our Lord, Who has become man for me, that I may love Him more and follow Him more closely.
Text for Prayer: Luke 2:51-52
Reflection: See the house in Nazareth where Jesus grew up. See the place where Mary and Joseph live, where they gather together and work.
Jesus Christ is the model for all of us. Everything about Him, everything He does is a lesson for us in how we may be complete as human beings and as subjects to the Divine King. Just as Mary kept Jesus’ words and deeds as material for a holy pondering in her heart, we too are to do the same. While we are often mesmerized by the greatest of His deeds recounted in the four Gospels, perhaps the most instructive for our everyday lives are those everyday deeds that Jesus took upon Himself as a model of perfect humanity. We must let this hidden life of our King impress upon our hearts deeply those lessons which we so often forget in the hustle and bustle of our lives. Too often we are centered on something other than living as a child of God.
Take in the atmosphere of such a peaceful and holy home. Imagine the tranquility and order of such a place during those hidden years of our Lord. Let your eyes become fixed on the young Jesus and let your companionship with Him grow. Let the ice that surrounds your heart melt away and let yourself become aware of God’s love for you in your humanity as you see Jesus in His humanity. Jesus has come to meet you with none of the grandeur and majesty to strike your unaccustomed eyes; all is immediate humanity on this day. The heart that beats within Jesus’ chest fits perfectly into your own. Allow the words of Saint Paul to apply to your own inner longings for closeness to Christ: “It is no longer I that live but Christ that lives in me.” (Gal 2:20)
Jesus is set on doing the will of His Father at all times through obedience to Joseph and Mary. This is the trajectory of His Divine Heart. Jesus’ nobility shines through in His being more than His doing now. Far from desiring something more regal, notice how Jesus delights in the simple accommodations offered Him during His hidden life. He takes delight in what has been designed by His Father in Heaven. Jesus is able to see and accept Mary and Joseph as instruments the Father’s divine will. See the promptness that the hidden King attends to their voices. See how lovingly He conforms to their will, “subject to them.” (Luke 2:51)
His hidden life is one of love for His earthly family, one of work, one of poverty, one of humble concealment, one of interior life. And see how every heartbeat of Our Lord is a prayer as His zeal for completing His mission, begun in meekness, burns within Him.
Questions: What are the three most important changes that I would have to make to more closely resemble the Hidden King in His humble early life? Are there things that get in the way of those changes? Should there be things in the way? How can I draw nearer to Jesus in His humility?
Pray: Oh Jesus my King, grant that I may look upon Your life and see the secret to living close to Your heart. Teach me perfect obedience to those that I owe it to. Teach me to imitate that inner prayer that You model for me as King and Lamb. Teach me to be an instrument of ministry as You came to minister rather than be ministered to. Teach me to accept my current situation according to the will of Our Father, and if it is to His greater Glory, let me follow You more closely in every way: in work, in poverty, in concealment, in humility and, most importantly, in love.
Posted by Fr. John Brown, S.J. in XIX.The Finding in the Temple: The First Message of the King
March 11, 2010 | XVIII.Grace: an intimate knowledge of our Lord, Who has become man for me, that I may love Him more and follow Him more closely.
Text for Prayer: Lk. 2: 41-50
Reflection: Few choices in life are so obvious that even someone with the worst-formed conscience could easily make a good decision. St. Ignatius even notes in his second set of “Rules for the Discernment of Spirits” that the Evil Spirit can trick us, presenting as good something that is actually evil. So he provides guidelines in his “Rules” to help us consider carefully the decision at hand.
But St. Ignatius did not just want people to be able to choose good over evil. St. Ignatius recognized that a person can be presented with two good options that are not compatible with each other- the life of a husband and the life of a monk, for instance. He is very concerned that a person chooses not just what is good, but what is best. Ignatius shows this concern when speaking about the magis. “Magis” is a Latin word that can translate to “the greater good”. There is another Latin word, “satis”, that can mean “what is good enough”. These words are the origin for “magnificent” and “satisfactory”, respectively. So another way to think about it when St. Ignatius says to strive for the magis is to work for that which is magnificently good, instead of that which is satisfactorily good.
One contemplation that Ignatius proposes to help us understand this more clearly is that of the finding in the Temple. At the age of twelve, Mary and Joseph take Jesus to the Temple. After they left with the caravan, Jesus stayed behind. Even if they never outright said to Jesus that He was to go back with them, there could not have been any doubt in Jesus’ mind that this was the will of His mother and foster-father. There isn’t any question of Jesus choosing between good and evil. He is choosing between two good things- to obey the will of His parents, borne out of a love and concern for His well-being on the one hand; and to be about His Father’s business on the other. “Both” is not an option. Jesus must decide which good thing is the magis.
And when Mary and Joseph arrive, and Mary scolds Jesus for worrying them, He asks “Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I must be about my Father’s business?” For Jesus, it is clear that He must seek to do the Father’s will in every situation. It is so clear to Him that He does not understand why Mary and Joseph would have had any doubt where to look for Him. His attitude of “where else would I be?” is an example of Jesus’ single-minded drive to do the Father’s will, a drive seen so often throughout the Gospels. This is true all the way to Gethsemane and the Cross- where even there He says “not my will but yours be done” (Lk. 22:42).
Even for Jesus, to leave His parents at the age of twelve is a dangerous proposition. In choosing to do the Father’s will, Jesus is giving up a home, security, the care of family, and everything He has grown up with. He is the embodiment of the First Principle and Foundation. His overriding concern is not for comfort or safety, but for the magis and the Father’s will. Again, we see the Call of the King being played out here. Jesus is choosing to endure any hardships necessary out of a love for the Father and a desire to constantly be doing the Father’s will. He is fulfilling His promise in the Call that he would also toil and live without comforts in order to complete the Father’s mission. Like Jesus, we must constantly ask ourselves what we are willing to do for the sake of the love of God.
Questions: Think of the love for Jesus that Mary and Joseph show as they are looking for Him. How could Jesus choose something besides this? What are times in your own life that you have had to choose between two good things? What motivated your choice? How does that motivation compare with Jesus’ motivation for staying in the Temple?
Posted by Mr. David Paternostro, S.J. in XVIII.The Flight Into Egypt
March 10, 2010 | XVII.Grace: an intimate knowledge of our Lord, Who has become man for me, that I may love Him more and follow Him more closely.
Text for Prayer: Mt. 2:13-23
Reflection: We were visited by our king, but did we know him?
Today we pray with Mt 2:13-23, the flight into Egypt. Upon first encountering the story, we mark the obvious connections to Exodus. In the background of our memory is the story of Moses and the Israelites, exiled in a foreign land under the oppressive hand of Pharoah. Israel was God’s helpless child, weakest among all the nations of the world. Yet God chose it and called it out of its place of humiliation in order that it might be a light to the nations. The oppression of outsiders could not thwart the power of God.
Yet how much more poignant is the Flight into Egypt because here Jesus is hounded, not by Egyptians, but by his own people, by the king who is supposed to be his earthly ruler. Wailing and lamentation sound from Israel at the depth of the cruelty. And that is how it has been throughout history to the present day. We, Christ’s own people, exile him anew everyday because he lives in each person who suffers at our hands.
God eventually calls His Son out of Egypt. Before advancing to the resolution, however, we should allow ourselves to linger with the Holy Family on the road to Egypt. The prospect before them seemed little less dire than the certain death which awaited them at home: would they meet the end of their days in an Egyptian wilderness? Would there be nobody to remember them and carry on their memory? Unlike Rachel, whose grave near Bethlehem preserved her life in the memory of her descendents, would the Holy Family sink into anonymous demise like so many through history? It is only when we look squarely into the prospect of this destiny that we understand the true poverty of Christ our King. And it is only then that we begin to understand the radical nature of the trust that God asks us to place in Him.
Perhaps to form your memory and direct your emotions, listen to a recording of the Coventry Carol, one of the most mournful songs we hear at Christmastide. It is based upon the Flight into Egypt. Journey along the path with the Holy Family and feel the uncertainty which follows them. Doesn’t this uncertainty make their trust stand out all the more forcefully? Compare the plight of the Holy Family in comparison to all the other innocent men, women, and children who have been driven from their homes throughout history. Finally, allow yourself to be confronted by the Providence of God, which leads us through death into life.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lpiQ4IPzEE]
Questions: Where am I experienceing difficulty trusting God’s Providence? Where have I experienced Providence in the past? Where has God brought good out of difficulties in my life? How does Christ get exiled in my world today?
Posted by Fr. Kevin Dyer, S.J. in XVII.The Presentation in the Temple: Oblation of the Divine King
March 9, 2010 | XVI.Grace: To share in the gratitude of Mary for the Gift given her by the Father.
Text for Prayer: Lk. 2:21-38
Reflection: Mary knew from the very beginning that God acts. That God takes the initiative. She knew that better than anyone ever has. And she trusts His divine action. She said yes at the Annunciation, even though there was reason to fear. She rejoiced and glorified the Lord at what He had done at the Visitation. She stayed focused and confident in the Father’s care throughout the Nativity and the fleeing into Egypt. And that same spirit of humility and trust is operating again in Mary at the Presentation of “her” child at the Temple.
She has known from the beginning this child belongs to God, as every child does. But in a special way she knew that to be the case now. Her focus remains on the goodness and the generosity of the Father and she acknowledges that in offering the child Jesus into the hands of the Father as soon as He was born. She would be there again, later on, at the foot of the cross, when Jesus would freely offer his own life into the hands of his Eternal Father.
The fulfillment of the long awaited promise to Israel is initiated here. Simeon and Anna give beautiful testimonies to this fact. A plan that has its roots deep in history, is coming to fruition here. What is anticipated, what has been hoped for, longed for, is made present now, in the flesh.
Questions: In what way might I be being asked to “present” what is precious in my life to the Lord who has given it to me in the first place? When I have I abandoned myself to the Father’s care in the past? Do I remember the freedom that came with it, even if it felt scary? Do I have enough trust in my heart to present to the Father what I most love and put it all at His service? How can Mary guide me and be model for me in this trust?
Posted by Fr. Chris Collins, S.J. in XVI.