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.

Begin by relaxing your body, your mind, letting go of anxieties and ambitions and expectations and plans… Lay all that you notice and all that you are bare and exposed before the Father who welcomes you with a gaze that is gently loving. Settle into the silence that runs deeper than emotional turbulence… Move beyond imagination where you wait upon the stirring of the soul and the movement of the heart. Return to Jesus to find the Rest he offers…to welcome the gift…to become a child held in safe arms….

Resonating with Jesus

Ask Jesus that every aspect of this prayer will please him and will give glory to God.

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1).

Slowly read the passage for your meditation once. Leave some moments of silence and then read it again with the intention of entering into the story, of entering into how Jesus is experiencing this event, how he is using his senses, what he is thinking, feeling, desiring….

Jesus could have prayed with Psalm 91 while he communed with his Father in the desert.

You who live in the shelter of the Most High,
    who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress;
    my God, in whom I trust.”
For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler
    and from the deadly pestilence.

…The fowler is set on destruction. He sets traps in favorable spots, attracting doves and other small birds by scattering grain inside the trap. The birds would walk into the snare, not suspecting danger until the trap had been sprung. Jesus would have reflected in this psalm how God delivers the one who trusts in him.. “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: The snare is broken, and we are escaped” (Psalm 14:7). In this Psalm God is proclaimed as trustworthy to rescue us by either helping us avoid the trap altogether or freeing us from the trap if caught… This is a very masculine image, particularly for Ancient Israel… The forces of evil are stalking us to destroy us, but our Rescuer ultimately calls the shots. There is only one outcome: freedom from the snare of the fowler. After the fall of Adam and Eve, through the thousands of years before the birth of Jesus, we were trapped in our infidelity and disloyalty and in the destructive power of death which seemed to have the last word…. Jesus in the desert proclaimed to Satan: “Your power is broken.”

He will cover you with his pinions,
    and under his wings you will find refuge.

…A pinion is the outer part of a bird’s wing and represents the protection a mother bird gives her chicks. She spread her wings over them. This is a call to confidence in God. If you make the Lord your resting place, he will never leave you…. Here the psalmist offers a feminine image for the protecting and caring power of God.

Attend to Jesus as he prays the rest of this psalm in the rocky landscape and oppressive heat of the desert loneliness:

[The Lord’s] faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
You will not fear the terror of the night,
    or the arrow that flies by day,
or the pestilence that stalks in darkness,
    or the destruction that wastes at noonday.

A thousand may fall at your side,
    ten thousand at your right hand,
    but it will not come near you.
You will only look with your eyes
    and see the punishment of the wicked.

Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
    the Most High your dwelling place,
no evil shall befall you,
    no scourge come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you
    to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
    so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
    the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot.

Those who love me, I will deliver;
    I will protect those who know my name.
When they call to me, I will answer them;
    I will be with them in trouble,
    I will rescue them and honor them.
With long life I will satisfy them,
    and show them my salvation.

Rest in the awareness of what resonates in Jesus heart as he prays these words from the prayerbook of Ancient Israel. As you enter into his feelings, you will gradually lose interest in your own spontaneous reactions, defenses, and fears. Jesus will bring you to his way by attraction, sweetness, and beauty. He will make you feel his own heart’s safety, belonging, and hope.

Colloquy

Allow an image or object that encapsulates all these experiences to form in your mind. Take some time to speak with God about the meaning or significance of this object.

Ask Jesus to show you one specific gift he wishes to give you. Receive it and remain in stillness and quietly relaxed presence under the influence of the Holy Spirit.

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.

Image: Jesus Tempted in the Wilderness (Jésus tenté dans le désert). Brooklyn Museum, New York, public domain, Wikimedia Commons