“See Your Savior Comes” (Horizons of the Heart 16)

Published on February 15, 2023November 21, 2023 by Sr. Kathryn J Hermes, FSP4 Comments

The grace we are asking of God: a deeply felt awareness of how God draws us into the unfolding of the mystery of the Word made flesh and how in doing this we enter into a process of healing that we might love Jesus and follow him more intentionally

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.

Entering Prayer

Offer your prayer to God, desiring that in every way it will give him glory. I pour myself out in worship. You could use a few lines from the following Psalms if this helps you enter into prayer:

Psalm 100:1-5
Psalm 34:1-9
Psalm 111:1-5
Psalm 95:1-7
Psalm 92:1-8
Psalm 7:17

Ask of God what you think you need. (It could be later that God will show what you truly need and what you should be asking for, but begin now where you are.)

Giovanni Bellini, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

The Circumcision and the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple

Over several periods of prayer, linger imaginatively over the events narrated in Luke 2:21-38.

In the second chapter of Saint Luke’s Gospel, beginning from verse 21, the evangelist tells us about the Circumcision and Presentation of Jesus in the Temple. Circumcision was performed eight days after the birth. The Presentation of Jesus and the Purification of the Virgin was held forty days after Jesus’ birth.

At the Circumcision, Jesus was incorporated into the people of Israel. At this family ceremony, he received the name Jesus, indicating that he was to be the Savior of mankind. In the Circumcision, we encounter the true scandal of the Incarnation: God really became human. God really took up all that human life entails, including the suffering that would culminate one day on the cross.

The circumcision constituted Jesus a member of the old covenant, but his presentation in the temple was his formal dedication to the service of the Lord. According to the Law, every woman who gives birth to a son must wait forty days before entering the temple, and then “she shall take two turtles, or two young pigeons, one for a holocaust, and another for sin: and the priest shall pray for her, and so she shall be cleansed” (Lev 12:8).

This feast also celebrates the coming of the Lord into his temple. As the prophet Malachi proclaims, “presently the Lord, whom you seek, and the angel of the testament, whom you desire, shall come to his temple” (Mal 3:1). In the Presentation of the Lord, we see the long-expected fulfillment of God’s promises. For more than a millennium, the Jewish people waited for the Messiah. Generation after generation endured hardship and suffering—evil kings, idolatrous neighbors, exile—yet still, they waited. This patient expectance is typified in Simeon and Anna, two faithful Jews who greet the baby Jesus in the Temple, recognizing at last the One who is to come.

Imagining Yourself Present

Over several days, spend some time imagining yourself at the family celebration of Jesus’ circumcision and later in the temple with Mary and Joseph, Simeon and Anna.

In Gospel contemplation you attempt to grasp something of Jesus’ human existence and as you do this, the Spirit begins to grasp you in your existence. This prayer gives us contact with Jesus, the risen Lord, who is present now, influencing my life now. The historical events of Jesus’ life, death and resurrection, his healing and his preaching, transcend time and place. The THEN of Jesus’ life becomes NOW. It is important to allow oneself to become part of the story-event.

This is a perfect time also to place in Jesus’ heart your own birth and childhood, early family situations and your relationship with parents, your religious upbringing in the first half of your life, encounters with the elders in your own family… Memories… Gratitude… Regrets… Hurt…

Fra Bartolomeo, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Are you carried in Mary’s arms? Does aged Anna lift you to her heart? Do you regret that there was no baptism, or no real religious sense in your home? Were you a young mother like Mary?

Where are you in these scenes? Speak to the people that populate them. Allow your affective imagination to lead you closer to them, to give you a sense of this felt-closeness that you so desire. You can imagine with your mind’s eye, with your sense of hearing or touch.

Imagining the Gospel events in the present

Over time, allow these stories in the gospel of Luke to become current as if Mary and Joseph are walking into your house with your friends and family. What do you feel as they enter into your space.

In Gospel Contemplation, Ignatius takes advantage of the way in which spiritual growth, like so many other aspects of maturing that we experience, takes place primarily when our affectivity is engaged. It is the shift in one’s deeper emotions and feelings that leads to a change in one’s behavior. We reach these deeper levels through metaphor, image, and symbol—the work of the imagination.

Observing attractions and resistance

Notice any interior reactions that you experience: comfort, discomfort, being lifted up, struggle, joy, sadness….

Observe the actions, words, emotions, sensitivities, attitudes of Mary, Joseph, and Jesus and to which of them you feel more attracted. Which of them arouse more negative feelings or resistance? Return to aspects of these meditations that seem more personally meaningful.

Entering the Mystery of the story

As you begin to enter the mystery of the story more deeply, you will begin to see or hear or touch. You will enter into the event and interact more deeply. Little by little you will become more present to the mystery and the mystery will be present to you.

As you become more and more involved in the event of Jesus’ mystery that you are contemplating, your life and your choices are affected. You find yourself changing and desiring to change.

Conversing as with a friend

Read the following verses from the prophet Isaiah (62:11-12) in relation to Jesus coming to the temple. Read this slowly, several times, allowing some moments of rest between your reading.

The Lord has made proclamation
    to the ends of the earth:
“Say to Daughter Zion,
    ‘See, your Savior comes!
See, his reward is with him,
    and his recompense accompanies him.’”
They will be called the Holy People,
    the Redeemed of the Lord;
and you will be called Sought After,
    the City No Longer Deserted.

Is there some new awareness coming forward as you consider these words? Do they shed some unexpected or new light on your own birth and childhood?

Continue in quiet—or even silent—intimate conversation with Mary, Joseph and Jesus. Ask them what is the grace that you should be praying for. Beg this grace of the Father. Then beg this grace of the Son, your Savior and Shepherd. Finally, beg for this grace from the Holy Spirit who is the source of all holiness.

If you wholly lived this grace that you are begging for, what would your life look like? Your relationships? Your prayer? The way you work? The way you love? The way you serve? What about you would make you the most happy?

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.

How to do Gospel Contemplation (Horizons of the Heart GUIDE)

Published on February 13, 2023November 21, 2023 by Sr. Kathryn J Hermes, FSP1 Comment

See an index for the whole series.

Entering Prayer

Offer your prayer to God, desiring that in every way it will give him glory. I pour myself out in worship. You could use a few lines from the following Psalms if this helps you enter into prayer:

Psalm 100:1-5
Psalm 34:1-9
Psalm 111:1-5
Psalm 95:1-7
Psalm 92:1-8
Psalm 7:17

Ask of God what you think you need. (It could be later that God will show what you truly need and what should be asking for, but begin now where you are.)

Imagining Yourself Present

Over several periods of prayer, linger imaginatively over one of the the events of the life of Jesus or Mary. Offer yourself to Mary and Jesus, imagining yourself present to these events of our salvation. Put yourself at their service, reflecting on what they are going through and how they are experiencing these events. Be present to them with, as Ignatius says, “the whole affective power of your mind, with loving care, with lingering delight, thus laying aside all other worries and cares.”

Note regarding praying with your imagination: Everyone can imaginatively be present somehow to a past event through memory in various ways. Imagining doesn’t necessary mean making images, that is, creating a little movie about the events we are contemplating. Some people imagine through their feelings, simply having a sense of what is happening, others visually through picturing, others through hearing. Entering imaginatively into these mysteries of our salvation will gradually give one an experiential and deeply felt understanding, rather than a notional knowledge.

Why is this important? This deep-felt knowledge implies an intimate caring, an attentive closeness that is aware of even the inner movements of thought and emotion in oneself and the other. We follow Jesus here and now through the work of the Spirit who weaves together our own history with salvation history. This happens through symbol and imagination. When we become part of the gospel story we allow our whole life to be affected by the Spirit.

Imagining the Gospel events in the present

Re-read in the scriptures these events or simply reflect on them as though they were happening now. Bring them up to your mind’s eye with “lingering delight” as though they were occurring right in your neighborhood so to speak. Notice which aspects of these mysteries begin to involve you a little more deeply.

Notice: In Gospel Contemplation, Ignatius takes advantage of the way in which spiritual growth, like so many other aspects of maturing that we experience, takes place primarily when our affectivity is engaged. It is the shift in one’s deeper emotions and feelings that leads to a change in one’s behavior. We reach these deeper levels through metaphor, image, and symbol—the work of the imagination.

Observing attractions and resistance

Observe the actions, words, emotions, sensitivities, attitudes of the various persons present in the Gospel passage and to which of them you feel more attracted. Which of them arouse more negative feelings or resistance? Return to aspects of these meditations that seem more personally meaningful.

Notice: How are you entering the story? Are you your present age or another age? How are you taking part in the mystery? What are you noticing about your emotions as you interact with Mary, Joseph, and Jesus? What happens when you interact with the persons in the story? Are you just thinking about them or are you speaking with them? Are you watching or are you a participant? Are you allowing yourself to be moved, surprised, touched, even angered by what happens or are you keeping everything under control?

Entering the Mystery of the story

Moving through deepening levels of stillness

As your contemplative prayer deepens, you will be open to being affected deeply by Jesus’ Spirit at both conscious and less-than-conscious levels of your being.

It may move you gradually through deepening levels to stillness. You may find yourself just there, totally involved—seeing, hearing, touching, smelling, tasting. It is almost as if the experience has gone into slow motion, and time passes as one is present to the Beloved and the Beloved to oneself. One is there; Jesus is there. The mystery is there. No words are necessary and no great thoughts need to surface. This is the experience of “O taste and see the goodness of the Lord.”

Desiring to follow Jesus

As I become more and more involved in the event of Jesus’ mystery that I am contemplating, my life and my choices are affected. I find myself changing and desiring to change. I begin to follow Jesus in a particular way.

As you contemplate more deeply, as you soak in these mysteries of Jesus’ life, where do you observe emotions or reactions like fear, guilt, resistance? Do any memories become more present to your awareness? How do you feel drawn toward something new? Speak to Jesus about what you observe and experience. What do you begin to learn about your following of Jesus?

You may wish to journal about this.

Conversing as with a friend

Continue in quiet—or even silent—intimate conversation with Jesus and Mary. Ask them what is the grace that you should be praying for. Beg this grace of the Father. Then beg this grace of the Son, your Savior and Shepherd. Finally, beg for this grace from the Holy Spirit who is the source of all holiness.

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: Cathopic, Fraylalo

Guided Meditation for Inner Peace

Published on February 11, 2023 by Sr. Kathryn J Hermes, FSPLeave a comment

Jesus is offering you peace in the midst of whatever turmoil may be around you or within you.

Are you skipping the first step of prayer?

Published on February 3, 2023February 3, 2023 by Sr. Kathryn J Hermes, FSPLeave a comment

The way we start anything is super important.

When I forget to pay attention to the way I begin to pray I feel like my prayer begins to “sag.” I lose attention. I lack desire. My mind and heart are fragmented and tired. Without an intentional beginning, prayer often ends up never arriving at the heart of God.

Try this exercise for Clearing the Space to intentionally enter into prayer.

Recall a “wow” moment

Remember a time when you felt something with your whole being. For instance when you pick up a puppy dog lost in the rain, your heart goes out to the poor animal. You can “feel” how much you care. The same when you interact with a baby. We can’t help loving such a little one. You pay attention with your mind and your heart. You want the best for the child. You let go of whatever else is taking your attention.

Now recall a time when you felt God close to you, a “wow” moment, an overwhelm moment. Go ahead. Stop and do it right now. It could be as simple as an evening when you watched the sun slowly set or as profound as an experience of prayer in which you felt seen, known, spoken to by God or by the Blessed Mother.

Soak in that presence, that sense of mystery, warmth, tenderness, security

As you re-enter that experience, pay attention to how it registers in your feelings. Similarly, when we encounter the divine, we know on every level of our being that we are in the presence of God. Soak in that presence, that sense of mystery, warmth, tenderness, security. To soak in something is to let it permeate every inch of your being. To stay. To abide. To remain. To allow. To sit with something that is beyond. More than.

State what you desire

In the Contemplative Prayer Experiences that we have begun in Touching the Sunrise Saint Ignatius will be leading us slowly through the stories of Jesus’ life found in the Gospel.

The very first thing Ignatius has us do when we begin to pray is to ask God for these things: a deeply felt awareness of how God draws us into the unfolding of the mystery of the Word made flesh and how in doing this we enter into a process of healing that we might love Jesus and follow him more intentionally.

This may be a long sentence but it is KEY to prayer. What do you want? What is your desire? Ignatius helps us understand what we should desire when we begin to pray with the life of our Savior. I explore every phrase in this desire in the article: God heals us that we might offer ourselves (Horizons of the Heart 15). If you missed any of the meditations in the Horizons of the Heart series you can find an index of them here.

God heals us that we might offer ourselves (Horizons of the Heart 15)

Published on February 3, 2023November 21, 2023 by Sr. Kathryn J Hermes, FSPLeave a comment

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.

Remember a time when you felt God close to you, a “wow” moment, an overwhelm moment. It could be as simple as an evening when you watched the sun slowly set or as profound as an experience of prayer in which you felt seen, known, spoken to by God or by the Blessed Mother. As you re-enter that experience, pay attention to how it registers in your feelings. When you pick up a puppy dog lost in the rain, your heart goes out to the poor animal. You can “feel” how much you care. The same when you interact with a baby. We can’t help loving such a little one. Similarly, when we encounter the divine, we know on every level of our being that we are in the presence of God. Soak in that presence, that sense of mystery, warmth, tenderness, security.

In our Contemplative Prayer Experiences in which we enter into the stories of Jesus’ life, we are asking of God these things: a deeply felt awareness of how God draws us into the unfolding of the mystery of the Word made flesh and how in doing this we enter into a process of healing that we might love Jesus and follow him more intentionally.

A deeply felt awareness: not a notional knowledge, but an awareness that reaches deep down within us, that transforms us from the inside out with the movements of God’s mysterious reaching out to us; a transformation that is worked on the level of memories, desires, imagination, what is barely conscious but which has an inordinate say regarding how we think, feel, and act in our day-to-day life
…of how God draws us into the unfolding of the mystery of the Word made flesh: as we enter into the dance of prayer and love, God draws our life into the unfolding of his Son’s life, Jesus the Word made flesh. We are not here and Jesus over there somewhere, a story in our memories, a picture in our imagination.As we enter into Jesus’ life, as we speak with him, our lives are brought together with his. We are healed as Jesus lives out the mystery of his life in us.
…how in doing this we enter into a process of healing: As we enter into the stories of Jesus’ life, there may surface in our lives a deep emptiness, a black hole in our heart, an unexplained fear, agitation, or resistance. As we appreciate God’s gift of his Son who lived among us, we allow Jesus’ mystery to touch us deeply particularly in those places in our life in which we carry heavy burdens and bear wounds of which we may even be unconscious.
…that we might love Jesus and follow him more intentionally: The Spiritual Exercises very gently lead us from healing to self-offering, to that commitment to follow Jesus with our whole heart no matter where he may lead, no matter what it may cost.

As you reflect on this grace, what is it that strikes you most? Are there wounds in your life that come to mind? Would you say that you are ready to give God everything, or is God gently leading through a path of healing and mercy to prepare you to receive this great grace?

Return to the experience of God’s closeness with which you began this prayer. Ask God what it is that he wants you to know? To see? To believe?

Image credit: Hugo Gonzalez by Cathopic

We are loved to give love away to the world (Mark 16:15-18)

Published on January 25, 2023October 1, 2022 by Sr. Kathryn J Hermes, FSPLeave a comment

Today the Church celebrates the conversion of one of the greatest followers of Jesus: the apostle Saint Paul. When we first meet Paul in the Acts of the Apostles, he is clearly a young rabbi who had a hatred for the followers of Jesus. As St. Stephen was being stoned, those who took part in his martyrdom laid their cloaks at Paul’s feet. This zealot is described as entering house after house and dragging men and women out to hand them over for imprisonment (cf. Acts 8:3b).

As Paul approached Damascus with letters to bring back to Jerusalem any he found living as followers of the Way, Jesus met him. Surrounded by blinding light, Paul, who had been “breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples,” was humbled to the ground. Instead of speaking, he was made to listen. This heart that had been filled with such hatred for the followers of Jesus found, suddenly and immediately, a love beyond his comprehension from the very one he had been persecuting.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” Jesus told him. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do” (v 5-6).

Paul’s call, his conversion, left him blind, and like a child, he was led into Damascus where he was baptized three days later by Ananias, a member of the community of disciples he had intended to round up and take back to Jerusalem for punishment.

Paul was called. Paul was converted, changed, transformed. Paul was baptized so that he would carry out the mission Jesus had chosen him for: to go into the whole world, far beyond the boundaries of Jerusalem, to proclaim the good news to every creature.

Paul’s call has become the paradigm of every Christian calling since. We are called not for ourselves, but for others. We are loved, not to hold that sense of God’s love for us close to our own hearts, but to give it away to as many people as possible. We are transformed so that we might radiate to the world what it is to be truly human, truly Christ-like, totally Christian. In other words, today’s feast is a window onto the most important task you and I have on this earth: “Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature.”

After Paul regained his sight, he immediately began to preach to the Jews of Damascus about Jesus. He was met with disbelief and threats against his life. Paul had to learn that this mission to go to the very ends of the earth spurred on by the love of Christ, though a huge task, wasn’t going to be accomplished on his own terms. Eventually, he was sent away by the disciples to Tarsus. For three years he waited in study and prayer until Barnabas remembered him and thought he might be able to help out the community in Antioch.

The Church is given a great commission to proclaim the gospel to every creature, and yet in our experience, the best and the brightest and the most promising people are often sidelined or walk away. People don’t get along and it seems that perfect opportunities are missed. There is so much to do we want to get started right away, throwing ourselves into the project, and God tells us to wait and study and pray. We devise strategies and develop plans, and God undoes them all to bring about his own. Sometimes I feel that these are the signs that accompany those who believe. More than healing the sick and driving out demons, speaking new languages, and picking up serpents with our bare hands, God leaves us in confusion and humility as we wait upon his Word. What set-back or suffering are you bearing for the sake of the Gospel?

You and I are commissioned to share with every person on this earth the story of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. To whom is God sending you today to share the good news?

Praying with this passage of Scripture

Lectio Divina is a way of listening to God as he speaks in his Word. It is a practice of communicating with God through Scripture and attending to God’s presence and what he wishes to tell us. In this slow and prayerful reading of the Word of God, we allow ourselves to be transformed by the Spirit who forms us into the image of Christ.
There are four movement in Lectio Divina: Read (lectio), Meditate (meditation), Pray (oratio), Contemplate (contemplation).

Begin by finding a still space to pray. Breathe deeply and become quieter within. Abandon any agenda, worries or thoughts you bring to this prayer and entrust these things to the merciful care of God. Ask for the grace to be receptive to what God will speak to you through this Scripture reading. Grant me, Jesus Divine Master, to be able to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God and your unfathomable riches. Grant that your word penetrate my soul; guide my steps, and brighten my way till the day dawns and darkness dissipates, you who live and reign forever and ever Amen.

Read (lectio)
Begin by slowly and meditatively reading your Scripture passage out loud. Listen for a particular word or phrase that speaks to you at this moment and sit with it for a time.

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.

“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. “Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”

“Yes, Lord,” he answered.

The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”

“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your holy people in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”

Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus.

Meditate (meditatio) – Read the same passage a second time. As you re-engage the text, let the word or phrase that stood out become your invitation to speak from your heart with God who wishes to share his heart with you. Allow this word or phrase to wash over you and permeate your thoughts and feelings. You may wish to repeat this phrase quietly and gently for a period of time.

Pray (oratio) – Read the text a third time. Listen for what God is saying to you. Speak heart to heart with God. Notice the feelings that this conversation with God raises up within you. Share with God what you notice about your response to this conversation. You may wish to return to repeating the phrase quietly and gently, allowing it to permeate you more and more deeply.

Contemplate (contemplatio)
Read the text a final time. Now be still and rest in God’s embrace. Ask God to give you a gift to take with you from this prayer. You might ask God if he is inviting you to do some action, for instance, make some change in your thoughts, attitudes or reactions, in the way you speak or how you treat others. Thank God for this gift and invitation as you conclude your prayer.

Photo Credit: Rembrandt, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons