This first month I will be looking into Ignatian Spirituality. The site I'm using to get my info is http://ignatianspirituality.com which seems really complete. Therefore, all quotes, unless otherwise stated will come from this site. I plan to write my reflections on what I'm learning and how I'm practicing this form of prayer, daily practice, and way of looking at God in my daily life.
According to IgnatianSpirituality.com, Ignatius found God in everything, nature, families, friends, our emotions and "in the mundane details of our daily lives." This goes along with my personal beliefs. I, too, see God in everything around me, in all the details much like how Ignatius found God.
For me, by seeing God everywhere, God is placed in the center of my life. He is always connected with me and all I do. This, too, is reflected in Ignatian Spirituality. We make choices and each choice can either draw us toward God or push God away from us.
Ignatius daily prayer and Daily Examen.
I like having clear, step by step instructions. Ignatius seemed to do just that. The Daily Examen is right up my alley. Here's the version I got from ignationspirituality.com.
1. "Become aware of God’s presence." Look for the Holy Spirit in all the events of the day. Ask for clearly and understanding if any part of the day seems confusing.
2. "Review the day with gratitude. Gratitude is the foundation of our relationship with God." Note the joys of all things, even what you ate and little interactions with others, small pleasures, and details with gratitude. Ask yourself, 'What did you receive from these people? What did you give them?"
This will be easy for me. I am used to giving thanks throughout the day. I have a gratitude diary that I have used off and on for years. My slogan for the last several years is to always have an attitude of gratitude.
3. "Pay attention to your emotions." St. Ignatius believed that we can see God working through our emotions. Perhaps boredom, resentment, anger, compassion could be God's way of nudging us to take action that would help someone or change our attitude where it needs to be changed. What is the Holy Spirit saying with your emotions?
4. "Choose one feature of the day and pray from it." Choose one event, small or large and ask the Holy Spirit to guide you through it. Examine it and allow the prayer to come from your heart and feelings. Ignatius believed feelings were God's way of speaking to us. I guess we can do this in the evening after reviewing our day, or perhaps after we notice something we want to pay special attention to.
5. "Look toward tomorrow." Now we look toward tomorrow's challenges asking, again, for God's guidance, hope and understanding. And once more, pay close attention to the feelings that arise, turning these feelings into prayer. This is another thing I can see doing in the evening before going to bed as a preparation for the next days events.
We end with a conversation with Jesus, asking forgiveness for sins, his protection, help and wisdom. I was surprised to read that "St. Ignatius encouraged people to talk to Jesus like a friends." Well, OK. I'll try to do that. We do with the attitude of gratitude. The final prayer is the Our Father.
****
So that's it. Those are the additions to my prayer life this month. Of course, I can continue with my other prayers, but this is the practice I want to learn over the next 30 days. I'll let you know how it works for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment