Taking Matters Into My Own Hands or Not? Part 1

Do You Stop Trusting and Take Matters Into Your Own Hands?

Inspired by First Reading from Thursday 12th Week of Ordinary Time-June 27, 2013

How many of you are creatures of habit like me?   I am on staff at Montserrat Jesuit Retreat House directing the annual personally directed 5 and 8 day retreats.  On Thursday of last week, the Jesuit priest celebrating the English-speaking masses asked the lay guest directors to volunteer to give scripture reflections.   I immediately did what I am comfortable with which was to go straight to my head and intellectually find out as much as I could by consulting commentaries and delving into the historical biblical criticism of the passages.  I wanted to gather all this data about the passages.

Then the Lord gently reminded me that He wanted more from me.  He wanted me to abide in the Word and enflesh it.    Back in 1989, my introduction to Ignatian Spirituality was actually through books written by a Jesuit, Mark Link S. J., who was experimenting with the Spiritual Exercises in parishes here in Dallas.  I remembered I had packed one of my devotionals written by him and I pulled it out of my suitcase as a prayer aid to use Imaginative Prayer and set off to place myself in the scene.  I began by begging for the grace to really Know God, The Father; Jesus, the Son; and the Holy Spirit from the experience and not just know about them.  I specifically begged to Know Jesus more intimately, love Him more dearly and follow Him more nearly which is a grace specifically noted in the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius when praying with the second week experiences.  I abided in the passages and then I used the prayer aid to deepen my experience.  I thought I’d have a little show and tell with my audience to help everyone with the mechanics of placing ourselves in the scene of passages, abiding and enfleshing sacred scripture.

Knowing that Jesus came to fulfill and not abolish the teachings of the Old Testament; I felt confident that whatever lessons revealed to me from the Genesis story would reveal something about Jesus to me.  I honestly had no desire to go to the Old Testament.  When I do get out of my head, I am very much a romantic and would love to spend all my prayer periods in the gospel of John.

However, I worked my way through my resistances and began spending time with Sara and Hagar.   Our God of surprises surprised me in ways that only He can do.  I was placed in the scene as Sara.  I found myself having to resist self-pity about my own unfulfilled dreams of not being happily married with children.  I had to be honest with myself about my tendency to succumb to self-pity at times because my life has not turned out how I thought it would.  But, I also experienced tremendous joy with Our Triune God about the amazing grace I have been given.  This grace helped me to realize I had a disordered attachment to the married life and biological children that had to be surrendered to Our Lord.  I was also being called to trust that He loves me unconditionally and knows what is best for me.  The major insights I received from abiding in the Genesis reading is that the story of Sara and Hagar is about the consequences of not trusting God and taking things into our own hands.  Sara, whom I can relate to very well because I have always wanted to be happily married with lots of children and I am still single and childless, stopped trusting God and took things into her own hands and then she took the consequences of her poor choice out on others.  It led to her abuse of power and mistreatment of others.  The abiding in scripture reminded me of my past and I am not proud of those times in my past.  I had to admit that when I had succumbed to slothfulness and not done my inner work to recognize How deeply loved I am by God and that I can trust Our Triune God totally to know what is best for me, I too abused my power and mistreated others.

Imaginative Prayer Experience

Place yourself in the scene of Genesis 16: 1-12, 15-16.  Allow the Holy Spirit to place you as one of the characters in the scene.  Who is the character?  What happens for you?  What are you doing?  What are you feeling?

Questions to Ponder:

• Are you aware of your habits and inclinations?
• Were there any resistances for you in the Genesis passage?
• Do you rely fully on God or do you stop trusting when the journey gets tough?
• Do you take matters into your own hands?
• Have you abused power over others or mistreated others?
• Are you doing the inner work required of you?
• Are you grounded in a deep personal and intimate relationship with Our Loving God?
• Do you trust God to know what is best for you?

Closing Prayer

God Bless You and May we all have the courage to be honest with ourselves and honest with God about our deepest desires and allow God to reveal His great love to us…..Amen!

Let’s help one another by sharing in the comments how methods of prayer from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola have blessed us…………………

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Feel Free to “cut and paste” any of these texts for Prayer or Worship Aids and simply add this reference:

“Taken from the The Hopeless Romantic: Falling in Love with God site of Patti Clement. www.patticlement.wordpress.com Used with Permission.”

Truth or Deception?

As I prayed with today’s readings, the common thread that the Holy Spirit placed on my heart is the tension between Truth and Deception that is part of every human journey.  The first image I received was one of a Board Game.  Doesn’t the title “Truth or Deception” have a good ring to it for the name of a Board Game?    There is even a Board Game called “Life” so why not?

Oh, how I have often wished Life was as easy as a Board Game that comes with a set of specific instructions!  I have always thought of Board Games as a means of fellowship, community and making good choices.  We all strive to make good choices in a Board Game because, of course, we want to win the game.  However, we all know that Life is not about winning or losing, but about making good moral choices and living in the Truth.

In the reading from Genesis 13, we hear of Abram and Lot’s separation because their herdsmen were quarreling.  Abram offers Lot the choice of land to keep peace.  In Lot’s choosing though I was reminded by his choice that things are not always what they seem to be.  Lot chose the Jordan Plain.  Why?  Because it was well watered and he felt it was the better decision.  However, the area he chose to dwell in was filled with wicked inhabitants.  Lot was deceived by outward appearances.

In Psalm 15, we hear from Sacred Scripture that “He who does justice will live in the presence of the Lord”.  Then we have several verses revealing what Justice is in the biblical sense.  The verse that I really resonated with is the one where we hear, “He who thinks the Truth in his heart and slanders not with his tongue.”

Then in the Gospel according to Matthew 7: 6, 12-14, we have laid before us a great visual of what happens when we are not attuned to this tension between Truth and Deception.  We hear “Enter through the Narrow Gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction and those who enter through it are many.  How Narrow the Gate and Constricted the Road that Leads to Life.  And those who find it are few.”

I believe that St. Ignatius was referring to the Narrow Gate and Constricted Road that Leads to Life when he states in the First Principle and Foundation of the Spiritual Exercises that our only desire and our one choice should be this:  I want and I choose what better leads to God’s deepening life in me.

Therein lies the tension I mentioned when I began….Truth vs. Deception particularly in the secular world we live in today.

How often have you heard the word “Truth“?  Have you ever wondered what does that word “Truth” really mean?  Have you ever wondered how do we know “Truth” from Deception in the world we live in?

Deciphering “Truth” from Deception is part of our Baptismal Call as faithful Christians.  As I sat with the Lord and pondered what He might be trying to reveal to me about this matter,  another  scripture verse came to mind: John 18: 37, specifically the following words where Jesus responds to Pilate in dialogue:

There is so much loaded into that one verse.  It is Jesus that is the “Truth“!   So seeking the Truth is all about relationship with Jesus and becoming a person of virtue just like Jesus.

How do we do that?

The answers may not be packaged as a Board Game with instructions, but we are given instruction in Sacred Scripture.  We hear in John 14: 6, Jesus telling his disciples, “I am the Way, and the Truth and the Life.  No one comes to the Father except through me.  If you know me, then you will also know my Father“.

How do you know Jesus?

By spending time with Him and allowing Scripture to come to Life.  Allow Him to reveal his virtues to you in the depths of your soul so that you can beg him to conform your heart to His.   We have to Allow Him to gently show us where our value system is not in line with His so that we can repent and make better choices to be more like Him.

• How well do you know Jesus?  Not what do you know about Him? There is a big difference between Knowing about someone and Knowing Them.
• How might you nurture your relationship with Him?
• Have you been graced with insights on how you might listen to His voice amidst the noise of Deception in the secular world?   What graces have you received that helps you to stay rooted in Jesus that might help someone else do the same?
• Like Lot in the story from Genesis, what are ways you have been deceived by outward appearances?
• How do you stay focused on deciphering the “Truth” from all the Deception of commercialism, consumerism and busyness in the world we live in?

Let’s help one another by sharing what we are doing to stay focused on Jesus…..

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Feel Free to “cut and paste” any of these texts for Prayer or Worship Aids and simply add this reference:

“Taken from the The Hopeless Romantic: Falling in Love with God site of Patti Clement. www.patticlement.wordpress.com Used with Permission.”