The Finding in the Temple
March 31, 2011 | 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: 40-50
Reflection: An 18-year-old boy, Paul, enters Notre Dame Cathedral on Christmas Day 1886: he is a bright non-believer. Hearing Vespers and taking in the architectural beauty of the cathedral, he leaves convinced not only of God’s existence, but that God had ordered the world and placed mankind at the center of it. The French poet, dramatist, and ambassador Paul Claudel’s (1868-1955) entire adult life was influenced by, and dedicated to, his Catholic faith. His own sister, Camille, was a famed sculptress who rejected the faith of their forbears for her entire life. Like Paul Claudel, Jesus’s life of faithful service to God – being “about my Father’s business” – starts in a temple of God, and would face rejection.
After reading of Jesus’ birth in Luke’s Gospel, we learn nothing of his childhood save that he grows in age, strength and wisdom. Like every good observant Jewish family, Mary and Joseph take the young Jesus every year up to Jerusalem for the days-long feast of Passover. And then Jesus turns twelve years old, and with God’s favor upon him (Lk 2:40), he decides to remain at the temple. Joseph and Mary set out to return to Nazareth in a caravan, unaware of their lost son.
Posted by Mr. Joseph Simmons, S.J. in XVIII.The Flight Into Egypt: The Holy Family in Exile
March 30, 2011 | XVII.Grace: To have an intimate knowledge of the Lord, to love Him more devotedly, and to follow Him more whole-heartedly.
Text for Prayer: Mt. 2:13-23
Reflection: Exile is a terrible thing, for it means that one cannot live among one’s own people. It entails alienation and the experience of being an outsider, an Other. It brings hardship, uncertainty, and fear. All of these are likely part of the Holy Family’s experience of fleeing Bethlehem shortly after Jesus is born, and they further show the poverty of the God-man who chooses to humble Himself to be born in a manger.
From what is the Holy Family fleeing? Certain death, the extinguishing of the hope of Israel, and the loss of future glory of their nation. But more than these, they are fleeing from the possibility that God’s plan for the salvation of the world might be thwarted. At this moment in the history of the world, great forces were working against God’s plan, and while they were confounded for the time being, these forces left a stream of dead infants and wailing mothers in the Holy Family’s wake. The calls for the death of the newly-born Christ would not stop until they had achieved their aim, and so it is that Jesus’s entire life is circumscribed by the promise of His death on Calvary.
Posted by Mr. Michael Wegenka, S.J. in XVII.The Presentation in the Temple: Oblation of the Divine King
March 29, 2011 | XVI.Grace: I ask for intimate knowledge of the Lord Jesus who for me lived as an infant under the faithful and tender care of Mary and Joseph.
Text: Luke 2:22-38
Reflection: After Jesus is born and circumcised Mary and Joseph take their newly first-born son to Jerusalem. This is in order to live in accordance with the law that they received from Moses: all first-born sons shall be presented to God in the Temple so that they may be consecrated to Him. The law indicated that children should be presented within forty days of birth.
We can take time during our prayer to imagine how Mary, Joseph, and the baby Jesus make their way from the area of Bethlehem up to Jerusalem in order to fulfill the law. They get in line just like everyone else—without privileges or exceptions. They offer two turtledoves: the sacrifice offered by the poor unable to afford a larger animal. Here we see the gentle, humble, and unassuming faithfulness of the Holy Family.
Posted by Mr. Mikey Wood, S.J. in XVI.The Nativity: A Most Adorable King
March 28, 2011 | XV.Grace: To know the divine King who has become incarnate for me and to adore Him in the manger.
Text for Prayer: Lk. 2:1-20
Reflection: Infants are often described as adorable, but the infant who is the subject of this meditation is adorable in a rather more exalted sense. The newborn Jesus is worthy of our adoration, and the shepherds who travel to see him serve as worthy models for us. Responding to the word of God that comes to them through the message of an angel, they seek out and find the infant Lord in order to pay Him homage and to share the message of the promise that He brings to all mankind.
This infant Savior is not only the King of Heaven; he also desires to be the King of our hearts. He desires to show us his power made perfect in his weakness and in his vulnerability. As Mary’s Son, Jesus is ever close to her heart, and when Mary hears the message of the shepherds, she ponders their words in her heart. Let us imitate Mary today by adoring the Lord in his manger and by pondering the promise of salvation that his coming into this world brings.
Posted by Mr. Michael Wegenka, S.J. in XV.Weekend Repetition: Following Christ in the World
March 26, 2011This week, we began to move into what is called the “Second Week” of the Spiritual Exercises. Here, to pray over the Life of Christ, using both scenes from the gospels and supplementary prayers by St. Ignatius. One of the steps that Ignatius provides for us as we prepare to contemplate is what is called a “composition of place,” where we pay close attention to where the scene we are praying over takes place: sights, sounds, smells, how things feel, etc. It could be the fields outside of Jerusalem or the park outside your office. This is an important step and should not be overlooked. We are always in a place (both figuratively and literally), and Jesus always speaks to us at that place. As the reflections proceed, the question of what Jesus is saying to us and calling us to will become more focused. While doing a repetition this weekend, you might wish to pay close attention to the place (or places) you find yourself when praying, and the variety of places from which Jesus calls you. Wherever you are, God is calling you. What is God asking you to do at the place you are at?
At the start of the Second Week, St. Ignatius recommends that we take up some spiritual reading—usually a biography of a saint. While this is by no means required, reading a saint’s biography can help to “incarnate” what God is asking of us; as we see a concrete example of a real person, how God called that particular person, and how exactly that person responded to God’s call, we can get a better idea of how God is actually calling us in our own lives, and how we should best respond.
Posted by Mr. David Paternostro, S.J. in UncategorizedThe Incarnation: The Coming of the Divine King
March 25, 2011 | XIV.Grace: For an intimate knowledge of our Lord, who has become human for me that I may love Him more intensely and follow him more closely.
Text: Luke 1:26-38
Reflection: Today we have the opportunity to step back momentarily from our world and all its demands and focus on the Trinity. Take deep breaths and think about how each person of the Trinity sees you. See how the Father is present in your own personal history as the Creator of life, working so that you might be with Him, revealing to you His love. See how the Holy Spirit is present in your very existence as the Giver of life. He is present in all your relationships, blessing them with fruitfulness. See how the Son kneels to wash your feet as the Redeemer of life. He comes to you as Love Incarnate.
Ignatius proposes that after we consider the call of Christ the King we begin to enter into the mystery of the Incarnation through the eyes of the Trinity. They gaze upon the world and see suffering, destruction, and hopelessness. Without salvation, many are going down to hell. The Trinity freely decides to enter into this tragedy not with all the glory due to Them as God, but by sending the Son to take on our humanity, and be like us in everything except sin. This is so that we may be saved—so that we may share in the glory of our Creator, life-Giver, and Redeemer.
Posted by Mr. Mikey Wood, S.J. in XIV.The Call of Christ the King
March 24, 2011 | XIII.Grace: Not to be deaf to the Lord’s call, but prompt and diligent to accomplish His most holy will.
Text: Spiritual Exercises 91-98
Reflection: Today Ignatius calls us to ponder the call of an earthly king. Imagine his stirring speech as he inspires his citizens join him on a noble campaign for a just cause. He promises us that we shall have to go through hardships: going to bed hungry many nights, battling biting cold and fierce heat, arduous marches, doubts about our ability to succeed. We shall suffer much, but on the day of victory we shall share in the victory with the king.
Most of us today do not live under kings but we can still find parallels to what Ignatius is describing. We all have experiences of taking on hardships for the sake of a cause greater than ourselves. Maybe it was being on a sports team in high school. Maybe it is marriage and raising a family. Maybe you felt this after 9/11. Whatever it might be, call to mind a time when you united yourself with others for a good purpose, even though it meant encountering difficulties. Recall what moved you, as you looked at the difficulties and still said “Yes!” Recall how you forgot about yourself and felt your heart on fire with generosity.
Posted by Mr. Stephen Wolfe, S.J. in XIII.Prodigal Son: “Going It Alone” and the Road Back to God
March 23, 2011 | XII.Grace: To know the mercy of the Father and His unconditional love for me — even in the midst of my sinfulness.
Text for Prayer: Lk. 15:11-32
Reflection: The Prodigal Son story is one of the most familiar parables in the New Testament that one can return to time and again. We recall the basic outline: The son, wanting to strike out on his own, approaches his father for his inheritance early. He travels into the far country, away from what is known and safe, and gives himself to a life of debauchery and misery. Exhausted and penniless from trying to go it alone, he finds his way back to his father’s house in fear and trembling of his father’s rejection. And upon his return, his ever-watchful father sees him coming and “was filled with compassion. He ran to his son, embraced him and kissed him.”
With familiarity, it is easy to breeze through the parable’s narrative. “I’ve seen this movie before,” we say, and besides, most of us take for granted that when you reach a certain age, you move on from your parents’ home, and learn from your own mistakes. And as frequently happens nowadays, people move for jobs or higher education halfway across the country with little thought of duties to their parents. Our culture revels in breaking free and experiencing the world. The idea of living with one’s parents is unusual and unwelcome.
Posted by Mr. Joseph Simmons, S.J. in XII.The Triple Colloquy: The Grace of Conversion
March 22, 2011 | XI.Grace: A growing intense sorrow and, if God so wishes, even tears for my sins.
Text for Prayer: the Third Exercise of the First Week, Spiritual Exercises no. 62-63
Reflection: In the Gospel of St. Luke, Our Lord tells the story of the persistent widow who won consideration from the judge because of her perseverance. Here in the colloquy we are called to persistence in prayer to obtain in a most particular way that grace which we desire in this First Week – to know our sins so as to reject them entirely and no longer offend God. In this prayer it is especially good to focus clearly on the grace we have been so earnestly seeking in our prayers to this point.
Certainly, prayer to Mary, Christ, or the God the Father is effective on its own; however, in combination and succession, this way of speaking with those who can most help us achieve our eternal good is especially efficacious. This is St. Ignatius’s genius.
Posted by Mr. Andrij Hlabse, S.J. in XI.Hell: Missing Forever the End
March 21, 2011 | X.Grace: To feel the pain of those who are eternally separated from God, so that if I should forget God’s love for me, the fear of eternal separation from Him would keep me from sinning.
Reflection: Just as we have meditated upon the moment of death and its inevitability for us, now we turn to meditate upon a second kind of death: an eternal one. Those who have rejected God’s love have issued their own punishment. That punishment is an eternal separation from God, an eternity of being alone.
The thought of Hell makes us uneasy—and for good reason. It is what we ultimately want to avoid, what eats away at our hopes, and what seems to be creeping into this world every day. In this meditation perhaps we could choose to consider and weigh two kinds of Hells.
Posted by Mr. Mikey Wood, S.J. in X.