Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ inebraite me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me;
Within your wounds hide me;
suffer me not to be separated from you;
From the malignant enemy defend me;
In the hour of my death call me,
And bid me come to you,
That with your saints I may praise you
Forver and ever. Amen.
Principle and Foundation
God who loves us creates us and wants to share life with us forever. Out of love our response takes shape in our praise and honour and service of the God of our life.
All the things in this world are also created because of God's love and they become a context of gifts, presented to us so that we can know God more easily and make a return of love more readily.
In everyday life we must hold ourselves in balance before all created gifts insofar as we have a choice and are not bound by some responsibility. We should not fix our desires on health or sickness, wealth or poverty, success or failure, a long life or a short one. For everything has the potential of calling forth in us a more loving response to our life forver with God.
Our only desire should be this: I want and I choose what better leads to God's deepening life in me.
Read the above section several times over -- even read it daily for the first few days of the retreat. Let it sink into your soul, and allow the desire for "God's deepening life in me" to rise up in you.
Using Lectio Divina (check out Welcome Posting side bar for instructions) work through the following passages:
Isaiah 43: 1-7
Isaiah 55:1-13
If you have time try another style of Ignatian prayer called Composition of Place (see instruction on side bar) with Luke 19:1-10 the story of Zacchaeus.
Questions to reflect on:
1) As I begin to pray and reflect, what desires and hopes and feelings do I notice surfacing within me?
2) How did I experience God during my times of prayer and reflection? How did God seem? Loving? Gentle? Quiet? Loud? Other?
3) What people, places, and events in my life have been special instruments of grace leading me to deisre a more intimate relationship with God.
4) Am I aware of any stumbling blocks that prevent my attentiveness to God's place in my faith journey?
Click on Comments to see Pastor Mike's Reflections and to make your own comments.
3 comments:
Commenting on Isaiah 55 -- I once wrote a sermon on this passage. In fact it was the first sermon I ever wrote. It was for preaching class. As I looked back at that sermonn I was struck by how I'd been having some of the feelings I identified in the introduction. Here's the story I told: When I was six years old my parents took my brothers and me to the Pacific National Exhibition (also known as the P.N.E.). The P.N.E. is a fair where there are all kinds of carnival rides, food kiosks, and other assorted treats to excite and delight each one of the senses. It runs throughout the summer months in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia Ah, the sights, sounds and smells of the P.N.E., I remember them well. You can imagine, as a six-year-old boy all of those things bombarding my senses got to be a little over stimulating at times.
Here’s where the problem came: I wanted to join my older brother, who was 9, in exploring, but I was confined to my Dad’s hand. The longer we spent there, the more I wanted to be a big boy too and abandon my parents for the pleasures of freedom and over-stimulation. I could take it no longer, so I pleaded with my Dad to let me go. He said “No.” But being a persistent and stubborn child, (my how things have changed) I decided to ask again. Still the answer was no. I then did what all stubborn little children do when they don’t get their way…I threw a temper tantrum. My Dad finally let me go. I was finally free.
I wandered around for a time not too far from my parents; looking, smelling, listening. Just then, my shoe came untied. I knelt down to tie it up, and when I looked up, I couldn’t see my parents. Fear was beginning to wash over me. But just a few steps ahead I caught a glimpse of Dad. I walked over and tugged on his tan corduroys for the security and safety of his hand. When I looked up however, I noticed that it was not my Dad at all. It was a stranger. I screamed, because now I was really scared. I looked frantically for my Dad but I couldn’t see him anywhere. He had abandoned me when I needed him most. Just as I began to really wail because my Dad had left me, he came over, and took my hand. He bent down and said, “I’m right here, you don’t need to cry. Now you know why I wanted you to hold my hand. It’s easy to get lost here for a little guy like you.”
Many years have passed, but I can still remember the sense of abandonment that I felt. Have you ever been abandoned or felt abandoned? By a family member? By God, because someone dies or you yourself are ill? Whether it’s actual abandonment or perceived abandonment, the feelings of fear, anxiety, and loneliness that come along with it are powerful indeed. When we are faced with abandonment, we begin to despair. We ask, “Why is this happening to me? What have I done to deserve this?”
In connection with this I was struck by verse 11, where God says, "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: it will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire, and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. You will go out in joy."
God's word binds up wounds. It heals the hearts of those in distress. That's it's purpose, to comfort and bring Joy. This is a message I have to hear when I'm feeling anxious, or abondoned, even though I might have been the one doing the abandoning. Thanks God.
Encouraging words indeed. I recall a time when I was not abandoned, but I abandoned my family. I felt lost and angry and felt that it wasn't fair to my family to have a lost and miserable Dad/husband around. They were devastated and yet I still wanted to run away. After a time I came to realize that I couldn't find help out there - alone, but rather I needed my family more than ever. Through many tears and a many months of counselling we came to resolve that hurt I had caused and I found some peace within my own heart. Soon after I started going to a church and quickly found that Jesus was what I needed to continue the healing. He alone was able to help me truly understand the hurts I caused and the healing that only a loving God can bring. It has been many years now and our family is closer than ever and our marriage is stronger than ever.
Good words Pastor! I will try and join you on this journey. Thanks for providing this forum.
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