He, the Lord is our God; throughout the earth his judgments prevail. He remembers forever his covenant which he made binding for a thousand generations – which he entered into with Abraham and by his oath to Isaac; which he established for Jacob by statute, for Israel as an everlasting covenant, saying, “To you will I give the land of Canaan as your allotted inheritance.” – Psalm 105: 7-11
All who heard of it were astonished at the report given them by the shepherds. Mary treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, in accord with what had been told them. – Luke 2: 18-20
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF REPETITION:
God is mystery: this simple and profound statement reveals how very limited we are to comprehend the reality of God. God has chosen ingenious ways to reveal Himself to us, so that in spite of our limited capacity to comprehend the divinity, our hearts can be moved profoundly and our lives transformed by it. John’s Gospel Prologue tells us that Jesus is the Word of God who existed before the beginning of creation. This Word was with God, and this Word was God. Through Jesus all things came into being. Whoever came to be in Him found everlasting life. Jesus is the light that shines on in the darkness. This truth, simply stated, warms our hearts and fills them with intense hope and joy. It makes sense therefore to ponder God’s loving mystery revealed to us in the Scriptures and especially through Jesus Christ, day after day, so that they penetrate the depths of our being and bring about our transformation into God’s sons and daughters. In Luke, chapter 2 we are told that Mary “treasured all these things and reflected on them in her heart.” Similarly the shepherds returned to their flocks “glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen.”
In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius of Loyola recommends repetitions in prayer, or going over the same subject matter a second and third time in order to deepen our understanding and appreciation of God’s mystery. And in his second introductory observation, St. Ignatius maintains that “it is not much knowledge that fills and satisfies the soul but the intimate understanding and relish of the truth.” It makes sense therefore to take a week to taste and relish the truth that God has already revealed to us in the past ten weeks of this online retreat. Let us look at some aspects of God’s revelation.
JESUS, THE SUFFERING SERVANT:
The idea of saving the world through a humble, suffering servant rather than a glorious king is contrary to human thought. Religious Jews assumed that Israel would receive a political Messiah, a king who would deliver his people from their enemies and colonizers. Yet the Messiah’s strength would be shown in humility, suffering, and mercy. In the New Testament, Jesus is servant in various ways: at his baptism, which identifies him with Israel in search of redemption (Mk 1:11; John 1:34); with suffering and disabled people (Mt 8:17); with people in their humility and sinfulness (Philippians 2:7). Jesus thus appears as redeemer by plunging his own life and goodness into the midst of Israel and the entire world, bearing the full brunt of sin and sorrow, and thus overcoming evil by his own divine goodness. This tradition of an innocent sufferer, of Israel at its prophetic best, sustained Jesus in his own rejection (Mt 8:17) and inspired the church in its understanding of a suffering Messiah (Phil 2: 6-11). Jesus identified with this tradition and brought the theology of redemption to a sublime perfection.
THE FORMATIVE EXPERIENCE OF THE EXILE:
The Israelites had several formative experiences during this painful period in their history. God projected Himself as Israel’s Redeemer: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine (Isaiah 43:1).” In spite of Israel’s rebellion, God will not abandon Israel, but will claim her for His own and will ransom her. God projected Himself as mother: “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you (Isaiah 49:15).” And God projected Himself as husband: “For he who has become your husband is your Maker; his name is the Lord of hosts; … The Lord calls you back, like a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, a wife married in youth and then cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I abandoned you, but with great tenderness I will take you back (Isaiah 54:5, 6-7).” In the midst of Israel’s oppression and misery, God’s optimism and hope brims forth to overflowing: “As the new heavens and the new earth which I will make shall endure before me, says the Lord, so shall your race and your name endure (Isaiah 66:22).”
MAGNANIMITY REQUIRED FOR THE ENCOUNTER WITH GOD:
In this walk with God, having a large heart and generous spirit are essential. Anyone desiring to enter into a significant relationship with God will have to be prepared to take on the characteristics and dispositions of God Himself. It does not make sense to be afraid to look beyond our noses when God’s horizons are limitless and all-embracing. Being magnanimous on our part will mean that we truly allow God to be God; we truly trust God to fulfill His promises to us, to make us His own sons and daughters, created in his own image and likeness, and washed in the blood of his son, Jesus Christ.
THE PARADOX OF INTIMACY WITH GOD:
We are very unequal partners when it comes to our relationship with God. God is merciful and holy; we are recalcitrant and sinful. Were it not for God’s passionate desire to transform us into His sons and daughters, it would be audacious and pretentious to imagine that we could enter into intimate union with the Divine. We will never be able to understand why and how, in spite of our rebellious nature, God made the decision from all eternity to accord us the most intimate of invitations: to become the children of Abba, God through Jesus Christ. “God chose us in him before the world began, to be holy and blameless in his sight, to be full of love (Ephesians 1:4).” While this invitation boggles the mind, it nourishes the heart and gives us hope and strength even in our darkest passages through life. Whatever objections our finite intelligence may throw up against this plan of salvation, the Author, being God, is immensely credible because His Son “though he was in the form of God, did not deem equality with God something to be grasped at. Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of a slave, being born in the likeness of man. He was known to be of human estate, and it was thus that he humbled himself, obediently accepting even death, death on a cross (Philippians 2: 6-8)!”
NURTURING INTIMACY WITH GOD THROUGH PRAYER:
Prayer is the place where the love affair between God and the disciple occurs and gathers momentum. Prayer is the place where the disciple develops transparency of spirit, where bondage to sin is loosened, and freedom to act as God desires takes precedence. In the transparency of the disciple’s spirit, now being conformed to the image and likeness of God, the mystery of God can be revealed and the teachings of Jesus can become a life force for holiness and transformation. Ultimately, prayer is the place of worship and adoration of the Triune God who is bringing to completion the work of union with the disciple decided upon from all eternity.
DEFINING OUR PRAYER WITH GOD:
Matthew 6: 5-15 gives us a keen insight into the nature of prayer. Prayer is relational, between God and the disciple, and is therefore a dialogue where the disciple is impacted by the Divine Presence. When prayer is one-dimensional, with the exclusive focus on self, then it runs the risk of contamination and mockery. So Jesus tells us not to behave like the hypocrites who love to stand and pray in synagogues or on street corners in order to be noticed. Prayer is really about God: engaging in adoration, worship, and praise of our God who is both our beneficent Creator and our crucified Savior. It can only be about us if our intentions for ourselves are in the service and glory of God.
So Jesus asks us to pray in private and to become transparent before God, our Father. There is an interesting verse in Genesis: “The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame (Genesis 2: 25).” Before the Fall Adam and Eve were naked and they knew no shame. Shame is an emotion that gives us a keen insight into the way we think and feel about our identity. Adam and Eve were naked before each other. There were no secrets, nor any reservations about who they were and how they felt about themselves. And so they could appreciate and be totally comfortable with each other. The purpose of prayer is to become naked before God and feel no shame. God will make straight what is crooked, heal what is broken, and make us “sharers of the divine nature (2 Peter 1: 4),” when we open ourselves to the outstretched arms of the Crucified One and receive forgiveness and transformation in the acknowledgment of our sins and commitment to Jesus our Way, Truth, and Life. According to Jesus, it is our heart that matters in prayer, not our words or the sheer multiplication of them. But because we will use words in relating to God, they need to come from our hearts, honestly and humbly.
GUIDELINES FOR PRAYER:
· Be faithful to your time of prayer, and make it between 20 and 30 minutes daily.
· Begin every prayer session with an earnest prayer to the Holy Spirit like the one I have composed for you: Come, Holy Spirit, and overshadow me with your gentle wisdom and power as I endeavor to sit at the feet of Jesus during this period of prayer. Purify my mind and heart as I seek to make the teachings of Jesus my priority in life, thinking, speaking and doing as He desires. You are the keeper of my soul, leading me into God’s heart. May I be docile and submissive to your wisdom and guidance. May my life be a pleasing offering in your sight. Amen.
· Take any of the passages suggested for prayer from the past ten weeks. During the week you might want to ponder the following question: “In essence, what has the Holy Spirit been teaching me during the past ten weeks?”
· Lastly, during your prayer make sure you also address God directly and listen for the Holy Spirit’s responses.
· You can end your prayer with the following: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I thank you for your gracious companionship. I praise you for being my Creator, Savior and Lord. May I take your blessings to my day, and may your presence envelop and permeate all my thoughts and actions. Through Christ our Lord. Amen
PASSAGES FOR PRAYER:
Choose those passages that have brought you consolation and inspiration and/or those that challenged and convicted you in the past ten weeks.
SPIRITUAL READING:
The Imitation of Christ:
After the Bible, this classic is the most widely read. There are four books and 114 chapters in all. You could savor this book three times over if you read a single chapter each day of the retreat. For this week you can go back to what struck you the most in the past ten weeks.
The Bible:
It would be even more important for you to become familiar with the Bible, especially with the New Testament. Similarly, beginning with the New Testament you can choose to read a few chapters on a daily basis
Old Testament: Choose some passages from the past ten weeks that struck you.
New Testament: Choose some chapters that struck you in the past ten weeks.
JOURNALING:
· Journal for a few minutes daily about your experience with God in prayer and during the day.
· Your journal will help you with your sharing in spiritual direction
· Gradually patterns of insights, themes, consolations, and resistance to God’s promptings will emerge
· Your journal will help you appreciate the Holy Spirit’s action in your being.
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