Second Week -- Jesus' Hidden Years
(Prayer Units 10-14)
Theme: God chooses to fulfil God's deepest desires through the Word made flesh. Grace: To ask for what I desire -- a deep-felt knowledge of how God has chosen to fulfil the dream of God's heart through Jesus' conception and an intimate knowledge of the Trinity's deep desires for ourselves and for our planet. Prayer Texts:
Spend the first three days using more of a pondering approach -- that is, pondering the prayer material concerning the Incarnation as you would a love letter. Ask God the kinds of questions about the story that are likely to evoke reactions and responses in your heart. Allow the mysterious and wonderful truth of the Incarnation to fill your mind and heart. Here are some questions that may help your wondering:What was God's dream behind these historical events? What happened? Why did it happen that way? Who was there? What were the surroundings like? How could it be? Why that way? So what? If the historical conception were to take place today, what would be the circumstances? Would this child be female? In what way is this mystery taking place in our present time?
a) Incarnation With the First Prelude of the Incarnation Exercise [102]-[109], ponder with mind and heart how our Nurturing God contemplates how our planet is struggling. "... the whole of creation has been groaning in labour pains until now" (Rom 8:22). With the help of your active imagination, enter into God's personal deep-felt concerns about the condition of our planet. Listen with your heart to the discussion between the persons of the Holy Trinity. What is the dream of God's heart for us? b) Repetition Consider how they labour for our salvation through Mary and the conception and life of Jesus. Ask yourself and God's Spirit some of the questions from the introduction above. c) Repetition Return to the places in your last two prayer exercises where there have been movements in your heart. Remain with them and allow these movements to unfold themselves. Note: During the next three days, enter your prayer exercise more explicitly with your powers of imagination. Allow the scripture text to fill your imagination as you look at the persons, hear what they are saying, and take part in their activities. Let yourself be drawn into the event as if it were taking place with you right now. d) Lk 1:26-38 Announcement of the conception of Jesus. Watch this taking place, listen to the words, dialogue with Mary about it ... be there. Contemplate the growth of cells developing into the special child in her womb! e) Repetition
or Lk 1:39-56
Walk with Mary into the hill country to visit Elizabeth.f) Mt 1:18-25 Joseph, engaged to Mary, discovers that she is with child not by him. The predicament is clarified through a dream. This conception affects all their dreams, understandings and desires for an expected "typical family life" in a Jewish village. The dream of God's heart for the world is expressed in Jer 31:31 where the covenant is imaged as being placed in each person's heart replacing stony hearts. The effect of this dream is recorded in Zech 14:20-21 which images everything in life having become sacred, even the pans in the kitchen and the bells on the horses. In Mic 6:8, God's hopeful dream is fulfilled by our doing justice, in our loving tenderly, and in our walking humbly with our God. Jesus prayed for the achievement of this dream in Jn 17, " ... Abba, may they be one as we are one." The completion of this dream is expressed in Rev 21:1-7 where the heavenly Jerusalem is imaged as coming down from the heavens with the Holy One wiping every tear from our eyes.Our sensuality is grounded in nature, in compassion, and in grace.Additional Readings for reflection outside prayer times:
In our sensuality, God is.
God is the means whereby our substance and our sensuality are kept together
so as never to be apart.
-- Julian of Norwich
Jn 1:1-18 In the beginning was the Word. Jn 3:16-18 God loved the world so much that God sent God's Son. Eph 1:3-14 God's plan of salvation. Phil 2:5-11 God poured out God's very self and became one of us. Gal 4:1-7 At the appointed time, God sent God's own Son born of a woman. Titus 3:3-8 God saves us with a heart of compassion. Ps 40 Song of praise. Now at last our Caring God has stooped toward me.
Theme: The birth of Jesus. Grace: To ask for what I desire -- a deep-felt knowledge of God become human for me so that I might love Jesus more and follow his Spirit more closely. During the prayer exercises in this unit, use your active imagination more intentionally. In this guided imagery technique, the gospel narrative or the event guides your imagination. This method is called Gospel Contemplation. In each of these exercises you are being asked to let the event of Jesus' life be present to you now. You do this by "feeling" the event or by "visualizing" the event or by "hearing" the event as present -- in other words, with all the powers of your active imagination together. Lose yourself in the story. Let the power of the story engage your imagination. By `remembering' in this way with your active imagination, you are not going backward in time. Rather a part of the mystery of Jesus' life is brought forward into your present life.Prayer Texts:
a) The Nativity Pray from the Exercises text [111]-[117] using Gospel Contemplation. b) Lk 2:1-7 Pray from the scripture text itself using Gospel Contemplation. c) Lk 2:8-20 Join the shepherds in the countryside and then go with them to visit Jesus in the stable. d) Repetition of those points where you experienced movements or interior reactions [118]-[119]. e) Repetition of those points where you experienced interior reactions. f) Application
of Senseson Lk 2:1-7 and use the Exercises text [121]-[126] as a help. The Application of Senses is another kind of Repetition. Sometimes during the other prayer exercises, it may take place almost spontaneously. But here, use this approach more explicitly. It is allowing your prayer to become very still and passive. It is a looking or a wondering or a being. It is not so much that you are applying your senses of smell, touch, taste, seeing, hearing; rather it is more allowing one or two of the special moments you experienced in the earlier prayer exercises to absorb your senses. "0 taste and see the goodness of our God" (Ps 34:8). Allow your senses and your whole self to soak in the story.Additional Readings for reflection outside prayer times:
Is 52:7-10 Rejoice, Zion, for our God comforts us Heb 1:1-6 through the Son who is the reflection of God Is 7:10-14 and who, born of a virgin, is named Emmanuel, God-is-with-us. Heb 10:5-10 On coming into the world, Jesus says, "I come to do your will." Zeph 3:14-18 God, the saviour, is in your midst. Lk 1:68-79 Song of Zechariah ... Blessed be our God who has visited God's people! 1Jn 1:1-3 We have seen him with our own eyes and we have touched him! It is helpful at this point to reflect on your use of the Colloquy which Ignatius puts at the end of every prayer exercise. He suggests that this is to be a conversation "as one friend speaks to another" [54]. The Colloquy is intended not only at the end of the prayer exercise but also throughout. This is especially true when you allow yourself to participate in the event so that it becomes present to you. Conversation goes two ways; it is speaking as the other listens and it is listening while the other is speaking. So too in Gospel Contemplation. Imagine yourself in conversation with Jesus or some other person in the gospel story and interact with that person as you would in your day-to-day life. Express your thoughts and your feelings. Be with the other in silence. Look at each other. Say crazy things and deep things to each other. Don't monitor what you are saying and trust whatever comes. Be as spontaneous as possible; be as real as possible. Be your true self. You don't have to impress the person(s) you are conversing with; they don't have to impress you.
Theme: Jesus is given his name; he is brought to the temple. Grace: To ask for what I desire -- a deep-felt knowledge of God become human for me so that I might love Jesus more and follow his Spirit more closely. Prayer Texts:
Use Gospel Contemplation. Enter into the event with your imagination. Be part of the scene as though you are present. Allow its mystery to imbue you.
a) Lk 2:21 Jesus is circumcised and is given his name. Be there with Mary and Joseph and their relatives. Let the memory of your own naming and baptism be part of the prayer. Dialogue with them about it. b) Lk 2:22-38 Go with Mary and Joseph to present Jesus in the temple. Enter into the activity of the event. Speak with and listen to the persons involved. c) Mt 2:1-12 Accompany the "outsiders" as they pay homage to Jesus. Carry on a conversation with them. d) Repetition of those points where you experienced interior reactions: comfort - discomfort - being lifted up - struggle - joy - sadness. e) Repetition f) Application
of Senseson one or two experiences of Consolation from your prayer on the above. During the Gospel Contemplations on Jesus' early years, reflect on how the dreams of Mary and Joseph had to be refashioned by the political circumstances — birth in a unwelcoming town; exile to a foreign land. Mary and Joseph had to revisit their own personal myths and rediscover a newer myth as God's dream was being unfolded through revelation coalescing with unexpected human events coalescing with personal myth and deeper pondering.Additional Readings for reflection outside prayer times:In each instruction of the Gospel Contemplations, Ignatius directs us to "reflect so as to draw some profit." We might misinterpret this by thinking that during the prayer we have to figure out applications to our real life. This is not so. Rather, we should allow God's word to affect us in our concrete lives and our mind-sets about life. Let God personally provoke or surprise us with the fruit or "profit" that we derive from this form of prayer. Leave the more precise analysis of the "intellect" for the Review of the prayer experience after the prayer.
Is 9:1-4, 6-7 because a child is born, Wonderful Counsellor, Prince of Peace. Is 62:1-5 Like a young man marrying a young woman, so will God wed you. Is 62:11-12 Sing to Zion, your saviour comes! Phil 2:1-8 Do not act as if you are better than others, for God poured out God's very self and took the form of a slave -- one who has no political power, 2Cor 1:3-7 and therefore, our God is able to comfort us in our afflictions.
Theme: Born away from home, Jesus becomes a refugee and then a carpenter's son. Grace: To ask for what I desire -- a deep-felt knowledge of God become human for me so that I might love Jesus more and follow his Spirit more closely. Prayer Texts:
a) Mt 2:13-15 Join Jesus, Mary and Joseph as they escape into exile. Spend some time with them in Egypt. Dialogue with them about their experiences and tell them about your own experiences of childhood. Listen to what they have to say. b) Mt 2:16-18 The slaughter of innocent children. c) Mt 2:19-23 The return to Nazareth. Contemplate Jesus as he is growing up until the age of twelve. d) Repetition e) Repetition f) Application
of Senseson one or two experiences of consolation from your prayer on the above. When a person prays with Gospel Contemplation, it often happens that memories from one's own life that correspond to the life of Jesus begin to emerge. If you allow this to take place, there are many beautiful effects: a) healing of past hurts; b) seeing God at work in the events of your own life; c) insights into the meaning of significant events of your own life; and d) appreciation of God as a companion weaver in the day-to-day weaving of your personal life tapestry.Additional Readings for reflection outside prayer times:
Is 42:1-9 In exile, Jesus is being formed into that servant who will bring out prisoners from their external and internal confinements. Ps 59 From personal experience, through Jesus, God knows what it means to cry, "Rescue me from my enemies!" Mt 6:25-34 From his personal experience, Jesus knows what it means to depend on God and not worry about one's livelihood. Heb 11 Like his own ancestors, Jesus lived the life of trust and faith. Deut 6:1-9,
20-25
Joseph and Mary taught him to love God with all his heart.Deut 11:18-21 They raised him within the context of the Torah and instilled in him a love for God's will:
Sir 3:1-16, 4:1-10; Jn 4:31-34, 6:38; Mt 6:5-13.
Theme: Jesus grows up in obscurity in Nazareth, except for one special event. Grace: To ask for what I desire -- a deep-felt knowledge of God become human for me so that I might love Jesus more and follow his Spirit more closely. Prayer Texts:
a) Lk 2:41-50 When Jesus was twelve, Mary and Joseph brought him to the temple where he had the experience of a special call. Go with them on the journey and take part in all the aspects of this event. Share with them the experiences of your own youth and how you felt about them. b) Lk 2:51-52 Live with Jesus during some portions of his teenage years. c) Lk 2:51-52 Spend some time with Jesus during his young adult years from the time he became twenty until he was about to leave home. d) Repetition e) Repetition f) Application
of SensesAdditional Readings for reflection outside prayer times:
Mt 13:54-56 Jesus was known and recognized to be the carpenter's son, and so his own people would be really surprised in later years when he spoke with authority. Phil 2:1-5 Jesus had to learn how to get along with others and not be motivated by rivalry or conceit. Paul asks us to do the same. Col 3:12-21 The context of Paul's teaching for us is also the context in which Jesus grew up. Heb 2:14-18 Jesus had to become like us in every way. Ps 42 This psalm may very well have expressed Jesus's feelings as he kept pondering his temple experience at the age of twelve: "My soul longs for you, O my God ... I remember when I went with the throng to your house ... Ps 63:1-8 thus have I gazed toward you in the holy place to see your glory."
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