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….

Making Space for the Word

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

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him.

He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:14-21 NIV)

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 observing the details of what is happening. Take some time to set the stage and picture the environment in which the story takes place.… Use one of your five senses that is most helpful in entering into an experience. For some it is sight—visualizing what is happening, for others it is hearing—noticing sounds like the swoosh of a robe, a voice, the people sitting down, the sounds of nature or feet as they walk…

I invite you to zoom out and see this event within the larger arc of Jesus’ life and mission. This passage, which we’ve heard so many times, is really the beginning of a love story. It is the entrance of the lover who has come to woo his bride Israel and all humanity. You may wish to read through the passage a third time looking for hints of this story of love.

The way this passage is set up is similar to another biblical account of the entrance of a Lover. This one is found in the Old Testament book Song of Songs:

Listen! I hear my lover’s voice.
I know it’s him coming to me—
leaping with joy over mountains,
skipping in love over the hills that separate us,
to come to me (Song of Songs 2:8).

Notice your response to this passage. What occurs to you? What surprises you? What moves within you? What is your emotional response: hope? Excitement? Relief? Uncertainty? Fear? Joy?

Entering more deeply into the Love-Story of the Word Made Flesh

The Lover comes. He chooses his bride.

Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up…

Listen! I hear my lover’s voice.
I know it’s him coming to me— (Sg 2:8)

The Lover enters…

…and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom.

leaping with joy over mountains,
skipping in love over the hills that separate us… (v. 8)

The Lover stands…

He stood up to read, and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him.

Now he comes closer,
even to the places where I hide.
He gazes into my soul,
peering through the portal
as he blossoms within my heart. (v. 9)

The Lover speaks…

Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written:

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
    and recovery of sight for the blind,
to set the oppressed free,
    to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Then he rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant and sat down. The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on him. He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” (Luke 4:14-21 NIV)

The one I love calls to me:
Arise, my dearest. Hurry, my darling.
Come away with me!
I have come as you have asked
to draw you to my heart and lead you out.
For now is the time, my beautiful one.
The season has changed,
the bondage of your barren winter has ended,
and the season of hiding is over and gone.
The rains have soaked the earth
and left it bright with blossoming flowers.
The season for singing and pruning the vines has arrived.
I hear the cooing of doves in our land,
filling the air with songs to awaken you
and guide you forth.
Can you not discern this new day of destiny
breaking forth around you? (v. 10-13)

Ask for the grace “to know Jesus intimately, to love him more intensely, and so to follow him more closely.”

Here you are entering into the Mystery

This deeper contemplation of Jesus is an apprenticeship of your feelings and senses in which you are formed in such a way that you feel with Jesus, that your feelings become those of Jesus.

Entering into the mystery you humbly allow Jesus to be your Master, to educate your 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.

As you re-read the passage from Luke one more time, allow yourself to enter into the feelings of Jesus. In the thought of Ignatius, to sense what Jesus is experiencing includes mental, intuitive, emotional feelings, and bodily responses. Enter into the sense of a Lover who experienced such love for the people in Nazareth, seeing them with the eyes of God their Creator, with the heart of a Father who had been following his people for thousands of years, preparing them for the arrival of his Son who would convey to them in word and deed the treasures of his heart.

Jesus hadn’t arrived at the village of Nazareth just before the synagogue service (since walking for any great distance was forbidden on the Sabbath), so he would have walked through the city, greeted neighbors and friends, picked up the children who came to see him as he approached Mary’s house, listened to stories and sorrows, and spent at least a couple nights with Mary in the home in which he had grown up in. With your inspired imagination enter into Jesus’ arrival in Nazareth and the morning of the Sabbath where he joined the men in the synagogue. Allow these sense images to surface in your consciousness without trying to control or interpret them. Experience in Jesus and yourself any sense responses on the level of thoughts, affectivity, physical sensations, intuition and emotions. Allow yourself to gradually be overtaken by the was Jesus experienced loving, being a Lover—both for the people of Nazareth… and for you… Gently soak in these meaningful impressions.

What is the grace or spiritual gift you desire….

A gift to take with you

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 Mary, Joseph and Jesus to show you one specific gift they wish 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 Credit: Mouse23 via Pixabay.