Ignatian Assignment
Sunil Mac S.J.
A Three Day Retreat based on Ignatian
Spiritual Exercises
First Talk
General Instructions
It is very important for the retreatant to make this retreat with a spirit of generosity and magnanimity toward his Creator and Lord.
• The retreatant should keep a careful account of his feelings during the retreat and seek the guidance of the retreat director for further spiritual progress.
• It is also desired of the retreatant that he\she withdraws from all acquaintances and occupations during the time of the retreat. At atmosphere of silence and solitude helps one get in touch with the Lord.
• Plan out your own hours of prayers. Spend minimum of 5 hrs a day in meditation and prayers.
Meditation: Principle and Foundation
Grace: To experience that God is love.
Points:
• Human beings are created to praise, reverence and
serve God our Lord.
• All other things on earth exist to help them reach this goal.
• We ought to be indifferent to all created things and make use of them only insofar as they allow us to fulfill our mission in life.
• “Religious life within a Christian vision of Reality” by Joseph Mattam
God’s creation can be compared to a tree giving itself in the seed. The seed has the potentiality to grow into the likeness of the tree. This potentiality is what the tree shares with the seed—the seed is precisely this potentiality. In the same way God shares His creative power with His creation…The capacity of the shared existence is precisely to grow unto the likeness of the original sharer…Creation then is this shared existence, participation in God’s life, power of creative love. Since He is the Creator, what he creates is creators. The mystery of creation says that we are creators, but we have yet to become; we are only the seed. We are not ready-made. We are creators of ourselves and of our world.
Prayer Exercises:
• 1. God holds your hand and shows you all His creation. Get in touch with your emotions. How do you respond to God and to His creative love? Have a dialogue with God who creates.
• 2. In your prayer become any flower, any fruit, animal or any other object (Sun, Moon etc.) which you like the most. Let that speak to you about God’s creative love. Express your gratitude to the God of love.
Scriptural Passages:
• Lk. 11.1-13 Lord Teach us to pray
• Psalm: 139 He knows us and encompasses us.
• Psalm: 8 How great is your name Lord.
• Rev. 3.20 Behold I stand at the door and knock…
• Is. 43.1-7 Your are precious in my eyes.
• Jn. 1.1-18 In the beginning was the word.
• Lk. 12. 22-31The lilies of the field.
• Gen. 1: 1-2: 4, Rev. 4: 11
• Gen. 1: 26-27 sharing His life with Human beings.
• Ps. 104 God looks after His children.
First Day
Talk One :Story: Forgiveness (Rani Maria)
• God has created us in His image and Likeness.
• Through sin we have lost our familiarity with Him.
• Sin is estrangement from God, world and self.
• To heal this triple brokenness, I need to repent for
my sins.
• I also need to reflect upon the reality of sin in the
world. The history of sin traces back to the Original Sin.
• I shall specially dwell on to what an extent I am a part of the sins of the world.
• I shall also forgive those who have sinned against me, thus doing my bit in healing the broken world of sin.
Prayer Exercises:
• 1. Walking with Jesus along the corridor of my life. The exercise of becoming aware of my root sin. What was the phrase about me that got me irritated? Now Jesus gently and lovingly unfolds your life going backward. Remember those incidents which brought similar type of irritation in you? Find out the original negative experience and become aware of the negative emotion. Now formulate a sentence describing your root sin. In contrast to it, formulate the root grace. Have a dialogue with Jesus who was with you all the time.
• 2. Keep your gaze on the crucified Jesus and get in touch with yourself. Christ didn’t die on the cross because of my sins. What is there of worth dying for my sins? But He died because I am worth loving to the point of death.
Grace: An awareness of my sins and a deep sense of sorrow and regret.
Scriptural Passages:
• Gen. 3. 1-19 The Original Sin
• 2 Sam 11. 1-12 David’s Sin
• Mk 7 Evil intentions emerge from one’s heart.
• Rom 7. 14-25 Paul’s experience of sin and helplessness.
• Rom 5. 12-21 Social consequences of sin.
• Lk 7. 36-50 Sinful woman washes the feet of Jesus.
• Lk 19. 1-10 Zaecaeus.
• Mt 23. 35-39 How I have longed to gather your children as a hen gathers its chicks…
• Lk. Ch. 15.
• Ex. 34: 6-7 He is forgiving and kind.
• Ps. 102: 2-10 He forgives all my sins
• Mt.9: 2, 26: 28 Your sins are forgiven
• Mt. 5: 23-24 Make peace with your brother
• Mt. 5: 44 Love your enemies.
• Lk.6: 37, 17: 3, 23: 34 Forgive and you will be forgiven.
Second Day
Talk: The Life of Jesus
One Solitary Life
Here is a man who was born in an obscure village, the child of a peasant woman. He grew up in another village. He worked in a carpenter shop until He was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher.
He never owned a home. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family. He never went to college. He never put His foot inside a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles from the place He was born. He never did one of the things that usually accompany greatness. He had no credentials but Himself...
While still a young man, the tide of popular opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. One of them denied Him. He was turned over to His enemies. He went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed upon a cross between two thieves. While He was dying His executioners gambled for the only piece of property He had on earth – His coat. When He was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend.
Nineteen long centuries have come and gone, and today He is a centerpiece of the human race and leader of the column of progress.
I am far within the mark when I say that all the armies that ever marched, all the navies that were ever built; all the parliaments that ever sat and all the kings that ever reigned, put together, have not affected the life of man upon this earth as powerfully as has that one solitary life.
• Jesus the Second Person of the Holy Trinity incarnated as a human being according to God’s plan of salvation.
• He was fully human and fully divine.
• Jesus was infinitely human.
• Yet he was aware of his mission and union with the Father.
• How much has the life of Jesus affected me?
• Who is Jesus for me?
• Jesus stood by his convictions and gave up his life for them.
• What are my convictions? Am I willing to give my life for them?
Prayer Exercises:
• 1. Imagine a scene in heaven about 2006 years ago. The three Divine persons are having a conference. They discuss the deterioration of the world. They find poverty, injustice, manipulation of wealth, natural resources. They arrive at a decision. Humankind must be redeemed from self-destruction by One of them with the co-operation from those created in God’s image. Ask for the grace to become an effective instrument of God’s saving action in the world today by letting God take flesh in you.
• 2. As you contemplate on the healing mission of Jesus, recall, relive and relish those experiences in which you had experienced in-depth or internal healing.
• 3. As you contemplate on the healing mission of Jesus recall, relive and relish those experiences in which you had experienced in-depth inner healing. Have a dialogue with Jesus fully human.
• 4. As you contemplate on Jesus try to discover your personal relationship with Him. Jesus is asking you: “who do you say that I am?” What is your answer?
• 5. Stay with Jesus suffering and dying on the cross. Let Jesus lead you to other mysteries: betrayal, arrest, Peter’s denial, condemnation and death sentence, Calvary. Get affected with Jesus’ suffering.
Grace: To know Jesus more clearly, to love him more intimately and to follow him more closely.
Scriptural Passages:
• Jn 3. 22-30 I must increase and he must increase.
• Mt. 4: 2, Jn. 9: 28, Mt 9: 10, Jn. 4: 6 Jesus was a normal human being like most of us.
• Jn. 13: 1-20 The washing of the feet.
• Commitment to Christ’s Kingdom
• Col 2. 6-7, Eph 4. 23-24, Rom 12. 1f,
• Phil 3. 8-14, Col 1. 24ff, Gal 2. 19-21, Mt 16. 24
• The Call of the Apostles
• Mt. 4. 18-22, Mk. 1. 16-20, Lk. 5. 1-11, Jn. 1. 37-51
• Lk. 5. 1-11The call of Peter.
• Mt 16. 24-27 Cost of discipleship
• Jn. 4. 5-42 Samaritan woman.
• Jn. 13. 13-17 Last Supper
• Mt. 26. 37 Agony in the garden.
Third Day
Talk: Finding God in All Things
• Jesus is alive.
• He is active in spreading the kingdom of God through you and me.
• No despair is too great to overcome because there is resurrection beyond death.
• The risen Christ is everywhere.
• You can experience him if you can love like him.
Prayer Exercises:
• 1. Contemplate on the mystery of resurrection. Begin with risen Jesus appearing to Our Lady. Experience Mary’s face becoming brighter, beaming with joy at the experience of her Son’s glory and joy. Proceed to other mysteries. Experience how Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene who was in a state of shock, fear, hopelessness, discouragement. Experience Jesus’ encounter with the disciples on the way to Emmaus.
• 2. Remember God’s gift of love to me. I am God’s greatest gift to me. God is present in me. He labours in me. He loves me. Wants to merge with me. I am a reflection of God. Recite Take and Receive.
Free Hugs Video
Scriptural Passages:
• Lk. 24. 13-35 On the way to Emmaus
• Jn. 21. 1-19 Jesus gives breakfast to his disciples.
• God’s gift of creation and redemption.
• Jam. 1. 1-17, Ps. 104, 1Jn 4. 10, Jn 14. 18, Rom. 6. 22
• He is present in all his gifts
• 2 Cor 4. 6, Acts 17. 28, Col. 3. 9-10
• He labours in all his gifts
• Jn 5. 17, 17. 4, 6. 27
• All gifts mirror God’s goodness
• Rom 1. 20, Mt 5. 48, Jn 1.3, Col 1. 15
Sunil Macwan S.J.
2 Yr. B.Th.
GVD, Sevasi
Gujarat
Ignatius – a Prophet and a Mystic
A prophet is the one whose task it is to prophesy. Generally, prophecy is understood as a kind of communication from the world of supernatural to the world of the human. Such a communication requires intermediary. And it is social upheaval of some kind that necessitates direction from the supernatural powers. The prophet acts as the human representative and carries out the task of communicating the message from the divine.
In Hebrew the term Nabi denotes two meanings: 1. “one who has been called” and 2. “one who calls”. It includes both the personal experience of the prophet and the role that he plays in the community.
The prophet may well experience some kind of ecstacy or possession by a spirit at the time of contact with the supernatural power (Is 6. 1-8, Ezk. 1).
Some prophets hold a place of prime importance in society as part of political or religious establishment, while others remain on the periphery. Old Testament prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah are the examples of the former while Amos is that of the latter type. As for the message, they might call for a radical social change or advocate a moderate and gradual one. They might also press for a return to traditional values or for a strict adherence to the present. The context in which prophecy takes place shapes its content. Prophecy is always a response to a specific situation.
In the light of some of the most important aspects of prophecy can we say Ignatius was a prophet?
In many respects it is difficult to consider him one. He did not cry out against the objectionable practices within the church in his time. He did not rebel. He did not do away with traditions and worn out devotions of the Catholic Church. He was not persecuted because he condemned the Church but because his teaching and writings were suspected of lacking orthodoxy. And after due investigation, he was declared innocent. He did not wage an all out war against Reformation either. Though he did warn his followers to be wary of the onslaught of the Reformation, it was by no means his obsession to tackle it with all his might.
On the contrary, his obsession was to help souls. Children and unlettered people were his priorities. His instructions in this regard to all Jesuits are evident proof of this fact (IV, c. 10, n. 10, V, c. 1n.3: Ex. Gen. IV, 14).
Similarly, the fathers who teach in Ferrara, Florence, Naples and Modena (Ep. III, 542) are also urged to teach catechism to them. Even, in the introductory remarks to the Spiritual Exercises, Igantius first mentions children and uneducated people among “those who receive the excercises” (18). The sick and the poor also are close to Ignatius’ heart. He enjoined on all Jesuits to always find out the hospitals and the prisons whenever they went to a new place (VII, c. 4, n. 9, Ep. III, 549, Ep. XII, 243). Ignatius also speaks of preaching first and foremost by good example. No woder then, in the Constitutions edification gets special mention (VI, c.2, n. 16, VII, c.4, n. 2, 6, Ep. I, 386-388, XII, 243, III, 543, 545).
It is the love for the People of God that moves the prophet. Love for the house of God ispires him. Just as the prophet feels broken hearted at the state of Israel (Jer. 13, 17), Ignatius too felt sorry for the Church of his time suffering under the curse of corruption and sin. The main cause of decadence is estrangement of the people from God. People forsake the source of living waters and forget his law (Jer. 2. 13, 9. 12, 18. 15, 19. 4). They do not know him (Jer. 9. 2). There is no longer any knowledge in the land (Hos. 4. 2-6) The ox knows its master and the donkey its place for fodder but the people of Israel do not know Yahweh (Is. 1.3). hence, the message of the prophet will invariably be: “In you midst stands he whom you do not know” (Jn. 1. 26). This was precisely the message that Igantius himself sought to spread among the believers. The method he adopted was that of the Spiritual Exercises. He took upon himself the task of rebuilding the walls (Jer. 31. 4).
The knowledge of the Lord is the heart of the exercises. The exercitant is repeatedly asked to desire to know the Lord better in order to love and serve him more (104). The newly gained knowledge of God enables the exercitant to contemplate meaningfully on the mysteries of Christ’s life, death and resurrection (109,203,221). The climax of it is finding God in all things (233-237). Transformed by the fruits of the Excercises the exercitant can lead a life worthy of being image and likeness of God.
In this process it is God who is at the centre: He enlightens, He communicates, He moves, He stirs, He gives peace and comfort (2, 15, 16, 316, 329, 330, 336). To stress this aspect is the role of the prophet. Ignatius excelled at it. Through the exercises, he drives home the message that the God whom we do not know is the Father who has revealed himself in his Son, crucified but alive and now fulfilling his task of comforter (224).
Ignatius also stresses the fact that God who is present and works in and through his creatures is very much interested in Man. It is Him who orders, disposes and makes use of man’s life (Sp. Ex. 5, 15, 234). Man for Ignatius is God’s image and temple (Sp. Ex. 235). How important this contribution of Ignatius was in the light of the events of his time? Just when the Renaissance had proclaimed man as the centre of the universe, Ignatius reminded the world that God alone is the Lord of Creation and not man.
The fulfillment of man’s existence lay in doing God’s will. Therefore, it was an obsession with Ignatius to
