The grace we are asking of God: to discover Jesus in my own personal story so that my personal myth may be transformed in Jesus, as was that of Ignatius, that I will be disposed to hear God’s call and follow it wholeheartedly

Horizons of the Heart is inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius and my own notes from my thirty-day Ignatian retreat in 2022. See an index for the whole series.

In the Kingdom Meditation found in the Spiritual Exercises at the beginning of the second week, we encounter Ignatius’ transformation, that is, we enter into the way the personal “this-world” myth of his life was transformed and purified and exalted by Jesus.

What do we mean by one’s personal myth? We each have a personal myth created by energies that give direction, potency and meaning to our lives. They are created from stories we listened to as children, role models who influenced us in powerful ways, songs we sang, images from movies, games we played, stories we read, historical events we lived through. All these coalesce in our psyches and imaginations into powerful imagery and archetypes that express the desires and dreams we have for our lives. The images and stories that express these dreams we can call a “myth.” So there are personal myths, but from this description we can easily see that there are also national myths, myths for the community we associate with, religious myths.

Ignatius of Loyola was born into a Spain on the verge of being united under one king. The nation was galvanized by the dream of finally experiencing itself under one flag, one king under God. The dream that the whole world would be Christian gave energy to explorers who would venture to new lands to claim them for Spain and for Christ. Ignatius of Loyola’s personal “this-world” myth was created from these experiences, stories, and images that galvanized him as a soldier. He embodied the culture of chivalry and fought with his liege lord to conquer lands for his king and God.

In the Kingdom Meditation, as it is presented in the Spiritual Exercises, Ignatius presents us with a soldier’s story or dream of “myth,” because that was what was an understandable way of envisioning one’s life at that time. It would be an outrage for a soldier to refuse to join a temporal king, to fight alongside him, eat what he eats, suffer what he suffers, and share in his triumph, for the sake of the country and of God. This was the myth that at the moment of Ignatius’ conversion was transformed and gave him energy to devote himself now to Jesus as the Eternal King whose dream was to conquer the world with love. This dream of Jesus conquered his heart and soul, so that no longer was he mesmerized by dreams of chivalry and military success, but was taken up by dreams and desires of doing great deeds for the Lord Jesus Christ in service of the Divine Majesty.

We each have a personal myth that Jesus desires to transform so that we too are drawn into his dream and desires for the loving salvation of the world. Myths are usually unconscious, yet they express a set of values, energies, dreams, meanings, insights that give energy and focus to our lives.

Ignatius’ myth rooted in the imagery of a soldier—or analogously a hero, or a queen, or a lover—may not speak to you and I, but it is a profound example of the powerful things that can happen in our life when we allow our own personal myth to be transformed by Jesus. The life and writings of Saint Ignatius of Loyola have influenced and led to the transformation of hundreds of thousands of lives. The meditation on the Baptism of Jesus can be that space in which we discover for ourselves how Jesus reveals God’s dream for the world and where we fit into that dream: “Behold my Son in whom I delight. Listen to him.” In other words, meditating on the Baptism of the Lord can help us raise to consciousness our own myth so that it can be transformed by Jesus. In the Baptism of Jesus we see Jesus revealing to us God’s dream for the world.

Exploring One’s Deepest Dreams

In this meditation we are going to take some prayerful time to explore our deepest dreams and hopes about ourselves in the form of an image or a story or an insight. You might begin by praying with these questions:

• What images give me life? Are the images that have given me life up to this point in some way no longer sufficient or meaningful as I look at the future of my life as it is unfolding now?
• When I think of what I want to be remembered for in life, what is the image or story that encapsulates this?
• What dreams for myself capture what I wish I could be in the next decade of my life?
• If I could take my deepest desire and vision for the world and draw a picture of it or express it in a quote or insight, what would it be?
• When I look out at the world today what to me would be an absolutely wonderful change I’d like to see?

Personal Myths May Be Transformed Over Time

In times of transition in our life, such as a change of career, mid-life changes such as children leaving home or retirement, moving to a new location, or a shift in our personal values as we enter a new stage of life, our personal myth may undergo a transformation. So myths are flexible, open to the movement of the Holy Spirit and of grace. We could consider, for example, how the dreams of Mary and Joseph for the birth and early childhood years of Jesus had to be refashioned by the political situation in which they lived. Or how the image Jesus had of his life at Nazareth where it was just his mother and himself may have shifted at age thirty with his Baptism and the beginning of his public ministry. Jesus himself didn’t pivot to something new, but as he entered a new stage of his life and ministry as Savior and Redeemer, the images, dreams, and values shifted in a certain sense, giving him the impetus to enter into public ministry with all that this would entail. In what way has your sense of meaning, your dreams or myth shifted through the different eras of your life? Do you feel the Spirit prompting you to something new or to deepening something old?

Some examples: As I look out on the world today I have been inspired by this quote from Scripture: “”The banquet is ready. Go and tell everything that ALL IS READY” (see Mt. 22) Of course, this speaks to the ministry of a Daughter of St Paul, however while in my earlier years I lived my mission through the stance of teaching, now I live it through love. I stand, in an image given to me by our Founder, along the highways and byways of the world pointing out the way to heaven, where the banquet is ready, and the Eucharist, where the banquet can be tasted even now, while blocking the way to perdition with my whole being: through a contemplative way of life immersed in God, in dipping into the heart of Jesus the Savior the “pen” with which I write, living the urgency of love in my mission on my knees.

Others I know have found their myth embodied in the image of a sunflower which turns so that it constantly faces the sun, an image in the spiritual life of dependence on God and obedience to his will. Early on in religious life the focus could be on the virtue and vow of obedience. Later the emphasis may be on living prophetically and contemplatively God’s dream for the salvation of all.

Take some time to attend to your own personal myth.

Who Will Join Me?

Your myth, the image or story that will give energy and desire to your choices in life are a call to join Jesus, to be his companion for the sake of the world. At his Baptism in the Jordan, Jesus made holy the waters of all the baptismal fonts in every church till the end of time. He began at that moment in a particular way to reclaim us as the Father’s children, as his brothers and sisters and co-heirs. He began his journey that would culminate with his giving himself to us at the Last Supper in the Eucharist, his passion and death, and his resurrection and ascension. We too in Baptism would die and rise with him, would live in him and he in us.

Jesus stands at the Jordan, we could say, looking at each of us and asking, “Who will join me? Who will live as I live, struggle as I struggle, give as I give, love as I love, suffer as I suffer, and triumph as I triumph?”

Allow yourself to enter into the mystery of Jesus’ Baptism. What of the reflections in this article have touched you most deeply?

Jesus’ invitation is about helping you become more aware of the need for a great and generous spirit as he brings us into a mission that is greater than ourselves. Jesus is willing to sacrifice everything for the good of the people he loves and has come to save. He reaches out for others who will be willing to be with him in this mission. Jesus doesn’t ask if you are smart, if you are prepared, if you are holy. He simply asks: “Will you join me?”

This deeper contemplation of Jesus in the Gospels is an apprenticeship of our feelings and senses in which we are formed in such a way that we feel with Jesus, that our feelings becomes those of Jesus, and our spontaneous reactions of personal promotion and self-protection are gradually curbed and re-invented so that we spontaneously react as Jesus does.

Entering into the mystery of what we contemplate, we humbly allow Jesus to be our Master, to educate our senses and feelings according to the pattern of his own life and teachings. It is a matter of becoming saturated with Jesus’ own way of being and feeling. It is learning how to resonate with everything Jesus resonates with, as we gain this felt understanding through our contemplation, and of rejecting whatever Jesus rejects.

To stand with Jesus and to respond to his invitation to join him in will place a person squarely in the midst of the battle for the Kingdom of God against the forces of evil present in the history of the world. Suffering and struggle and hard labor will precede the fullness of God’s glory and Jesus’ triumph over all his enemies.

To follow Jesus is to take seriously his teaching, his example, and the powerful gift of his life and grace in us. Joining Jesus is a commitment to his plan for our own lives but also for the salvation of the world.

Talk with Jesus about this invitation and what you realize it will demand of you. Talk to him about what you are feeling, fearing, desiring.

Ignatius proposes an even deeper expression of commitment for those who feel a greater sense of identification with Jesus and wish to commit themselves even more in joining him. These are his words:

“Those who wish to give greater proof of their love, and to distinguish themselves in whatever concerns the service of the eternal King and Lord of all, will not only offer themselves entirely for the work, but will act against their sensuality and carnal and worldly love, and make offerings of greater value and of more importance in words such as these:

“Eternal Lord of all things, in the presence of your infinite goodness, and of your glorious mother, and of all the saints of your heavenly court, this is the offering which I make with your favor and help. I protest that it is my earnest desire and my deliberate choice, provided only that it is for your greater service and praise, to imitate you in bearing all wrongs and all abuse and all poverty, both actual and spiritual, should your most holy majesty deign to choose and admit me to such a state and way of life” (L.J. Puhl, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius (Chicago: Loyola University Press, 1951), Sections 97-98).

As you kneel before Jesus what is the commitment you wish to make to him at this time.

Reviewing the Graces of Prayer

When you finish praying, write down the main gifts and discoveries from this time of intimate contemplation. What is one concrete thing you can do to solidify these gifts in your life.

Featured image: ilragazzoconmoltafede-Apostolada de la Palabra from Cathopic