> Supplementary Prayer Units (Supplementary Prayer Units 1 -- 3) Supplementary Prayer Unit 1
> Theme: | The Kingdom Exercise presents an image of the Lord Jesus revealing his overall mission and call. It is the perspective for entering our Gospel Contemplations on Jesus' life to dispose us to hear Jesus' call, personally, during this Spiritual Exercises journey.
> Grace: | To ask for what I desire -- to know Jesus with such deep-felt knowledge that I might love him more and be open to hear his call for the unique and concrete circumstances of my life.
> Prayer Texts:
> a) Kingdom | Spend time with [91]-[94]. Ponder in your heart the parable of the King. What person or cause could capture your enthusiasm and generosity for you now?
> b) Kingdom | Ponder notations [95]-[98]. What image(s) of Jesus capture(s) your imagination and heart?
> c) The Offering | Ponder the offering of notation [98]. Can you make this offering according to the way it is in its literal form of the Exercises? If not, write out your own personal offering which harmonizes with what is in your heart at this point on your Spiritual Exercises journey.
> d) Repetition | of any movement that occurred in a) - c) above.
> e) Repetition | or choose a story from one of the events of Jesus' life that captures for you how you would like to continue to follow Jesus in your own setting.
> f) Repetition | of any movement that occurred in forgoing exercises.
> Additional Readings for reflection outside prayer times:
> Lk 14:25-30 | Jesus calls us to a radical commitment to his Abba in the same way that he did in his own life.
> Is 42:1-9; 49:1-7 | These `servant' texts give an idea of the personal myth that Jesus had about himself.
> Lk 9:23-26, 57-62 | Jesus calls us to embrace radically a simple life of poverty and self-renunciation,
> Eph 4:17-24 | to lay aside our former ways and acquire a spiritual way of thinking,
> 2Cor 5:14-21 | and to join him in the work of reconciliation,
> 2Cor 12:7-10 | despite the fear of our own weaknesses; for God will make up for them with the Spirit's presence and strength.
> How am I being called to cooperate with others in developing a more caring world? If I am to be a follower of Jesus, and given my own personal story and gifts, what elements or nuances would characterize my following of Jesus? In other words, the tapestry of Jesus' life is woven from many threads and colours. Which of these threads and colours need to be part of my own tapestry? Supplementary Prayer Unit 2
> Theme: | Jesus is risen -- the mystery of the resurrection.
> Grace: | To ask for what I desire -- to rejoice with a deep interior joy because Jesus is filled with glory and joy.
> Before you begin the first Gospel Contemplation of the Fourth Week, read the focus given in the Exercises [218]-[225]. Here you are instructed to be present in the story as you would with any other Gospel Contemplation. But now, in this Fourth Week, there is a difference. When you enter each event, pay particular attention to the following aspects: a) Focus on how the divinity, which seemed to be absent during the passion, now manifests its presence. b) Focus also on how Jesus, the risen Lord, exercises his role as consoler in the same way that friends often console each other. Prayer Texts:
> a) Jesus appears to his mother | Contemplate how Jesus, now Lord, comforts his mother, Mary. There is no scripture for this, but as Ignatius writes in notation [299], it should be presumed!
> b) same as a) |
> c) Jn 20:1-10 | Peter and John find the tomb empty.
> d) Repetition |
> e) Repetition |
> f) Application of Senses |
> Additional Readings for reflection outside prayer times:
> Ps 89 | Hymn and prayer to God's faithfulness.
> Ps 116 | Thanksgiving for delivery from death ... what return can I make to God for all God's goodness to me?
> Prov 8:22-31 | Wisdom as Creator ... before the mountains were settled, I came to birth.
> Lk 1:46-55 | Mary's song of gratitude.
> Eph 1:3-14 | God's plan of salvation ... God has let us know the mystery of God's purpose.
> 2Cor 1:3-7 | God comforts us in all our sorrows so that we can give others in their sorrows, the same consolation that we have received.
> Supplementary Prayer Unit 3
> Theme: | My story in God's story ... God's story in my story -- in fulfilment of God's dream for the world.
> Grace: | To ask for what I desire -- to come to know my personal and authentic myth which, through Jesus' Spirit, can harmonize with God's dream for the world.
> Prayer Texts:
> Images are the language of our psyche, and with God's grace, they can reveal how the Spirit dwelling within us encourages us to participate intentionally in the fulfilment of God's dream. They come into being from the stories of others and from our own stories. They can reveal our deepest desires and dreams which become part of our own personal and authentic myth which can release energy and give direction for our future in God's Spirit. Many approaches can be used to encourage the emergence of your own personal and authentic myth. The approach here is intended to help you discover what threads and colours need to be woven into your tapestry. The tapestry of Jesus' life is woven from many threads and colours and so is yours. Though a myth is often expressed in story form, here it can simply be any significant image which summarizes for you the hopes and dreams of your heart. Begin with the phase below which is a reflection on your journey thus far. Phase 1 Acknowledge the myths or images of the past. So far in my Spiritual Exercises journey I have been sharing my story and dreams with God and God has been sharing God's story and dreams with me all the while reminding me about some aspects of my own story which I have never sufficiently appreciated. Some parts have been beautiful some painful some less beautiful some ugly ... Through this "story-sharing" I have come to appreciate more and more how God accepts me as I am and accepts others as they are ... God desires to empower me to accept God's love as it is and to accept others as they are so that together we can accept God's dream for the world. I am who I am because of my stories. They were told to me by others and I told them to others. As a child, I expressed my stories in play and in song. Over the years I repeated the themes of these stories in many different ways: in bible stories and fairly tales in lines of songs in words from loved ones in night dreams and in waking dreams in lines of poetry, in images from movies in story lines which gave me goose bumps in my prayers and yearnings and deepest desires. At this point, if you have not done so already, write down what you have noticed from reflecting on the above. All these reminiscences make up your story as they coalesce into the themes of your heart. Some of these themes represent my true myth and some of these my counter-myth which has been unworthy of God's dream for the world. Pause here and note down some impressions: which of these themes belong to your true myth? which of these themes belong to your counter-myth? Although I continually need to seek freedom from these counter-myths, at this moment I desire to be in touch with my personal and authentic myth. I need to spend time to dream anew as Mary and Joseph did: after Jesus' unexpected conception; after Simeon's prediction; after their escape into a foreign land. Phase 2 Spend some time to acknowledge with God the myths or images that reside in your heart now. If you could take your deepest desire, your vision for yourself in the world, and express it in a story, what would it be? If you were to die five years from now, for what concrete things or ways of behaving would you like to be remembered in an honest obituary about you? In order to serve God and keep your energy and meaningful enthusiasm, what do you really need? What images give you life? What stories of the recent past capture how you would like to cooperate with God's dream for the world in the next decade? Phase 3 Pray and wait for your central or focal image(s) or myth to emerge. When you pondered these questions, probably some themes and images — elements of your myth — began to surface. Now, as you enter into the upcoming prayer exercises, carry these themes or images within your heart and ask the Spirit to reveal the significant image, story, or dream that captures how you are being called into the future.
Units (1-5) Disposition Weeks click here. Units (6-9) First Week click here. Units (10-14) Second Week (Jesus' Hidden Years) click here. Units (15-22) Second Week (Jesus' Public Life & Ministry) click here. Units (23-30) Third & Fourth Weeks (Death & Resurrection) click here. Supplementary Prayer Units click here. Go To Table Of Contents Of Orientations Volume 2