Meditation Lk 19,1-10

Stand in God’s presence. God is present here and now, looking upon you with love.

Ask for the Grace: I will beg God our Lord that all my intentions and actions may be directed purely to the praise and service of His Divine Majesty

Fixing a place, a picture for meditation: See what the city of Jericho looks like. Jesus walks through the city. There is a large crowd. Maybe you’ll see Zacchaeus – a chief tax collector. Get in the scene, be present in it.

Ask for the fruit of meditation: for knowing my desires and meeting Jesus

  1. Desires.

What is desire? It is the pursuit of a goal that I consider valuable and positive. This is something I want very much. The greatest human desires are about love: I want to love and be loved. Desires also apply to our interests, passions and hobbies. They are a source of joy, life-giving energy that stimulates us to live, to make decisions and take concrete actions.

a) See in the passage considered the desire of Zacchaeus and Jesus. What are their desires? What differences do you notice about Jesus’ and Zacchaeus’ desires? How does the realization of a desire change Zacchaeus?

b) Meet your desires: What do I want? What do I look for in my life, in my everyday life? See all your desires, don’t negate any. The shallower ones often lead to deeper ones. Take them all. How do I get involved in my life and satisfy my desires? Meet your desires also in the context of what Jesus says: today I must stay at your house today.

 

  1. Desires and Ignatius Loyola – for reflection.

Desires are very important for Ignatius. He realizes that sometimes a person may not want something good. Therefore, in the Constitutions of the Society of Jesus (cf. & 102, p. 72), he places the concept of desire’s desire: “If someone, because of our human weakness and misery, would not feel this kind of ardent desire in the Lord, he should be asked whether he at least feels desire to feel these desires. ”

How do you take care of your world of desires?

 

Meditation: St Ignatius encourages in The Spiritual Exercises No. 2 … Because not so much knowledge, but internal feeling and the taste of things please and saturate the soul, that is, we stay where we feel interior movement … and nervously do not try to go on.

The final conversation: Spend a little time at the end, being with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit….as you would with a good friend: sometimes talking, sometimes listening, sometimes being together in silence. Speak to God about your feelings. Remember that times when ‘nothing is happening’ can also be significant. When you’re ready, end your prayer by saying thank you or using words that are familiar,such as the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father)–whichever feels right and comfortable. (The Spiritual Exercises No.54)

 

 

 

 

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Meditation Lk 17, 7-10

Stand in God’s presence. God is present here and now, looking upon you with love.

Ask for the Grace: I will beg God our Lord that all my intentions and actions may be directed purely to the praise and service of His Divine Majesty

Fixing a place, a picture for meditation: See the person (maybe you are her?), who came from work at home and prepares a meal, covers the table.

Ask for the fruit of meditation: for the desire to be available in life, including in relation to God

1. Availability

Note that at the center of today’s pericope is a servant, not a host with his harsh, egoistic reference to him, like a ruthless superior (cf. God’s Word is alive, effective … Biblical comments for readings for the year ‘C’, S. Ormanty SChr, Poznan, 505). This does not change the fact that the servant after his work has to do various tasks at home, as something that is inscribed in the canon of the servant. In the following, it shows us the naturalness of being available to God, from whom we receive everything, so we should respond to His Love, serve Him, worship and praise Him. What does it mean for you to be available in relation to God?

2.Truth.

Living in truth, recognizing your dependencies, constraints, lack of freedom, self-calculation – something for something, recognizing also the areas in which you are free, your possibilities, your potential … see your living space, where it is difficult for you to be available and be grateful, and space in which you can be available and grateful. This allows you to accept reality and thus change.

3. Mindfulness.

Noticing lets you be in the here and now, and therefore lets you saturate the present moment – lets you live. Watch with mindfulness your life in everyday life, take it.

4.Pilgrim’s Journey, Ignatius of Loyola, p. 67-68- to your reflection:

“After the above – mentioned temptation, he began to feel notable changes in his soul. Sometimes he was so dejected that he found no enjoyment in the prayers he recited, not even in attending Mass, or in any other form of prayer. Sometimes the exact opposite happened to him, and so suddenly that he stripped away all sadness and desolation, just as one strips a cloak from one’s shoulders. He was astonished as these changes, which he had never before experienced, and said to himself:” What kind of a new life is this that we are now beginning?”…”

Ignatius lived in mindfulness of what was happening in his surroundings and of what he felt in himself. Being in discomfort did not close him to the new one that could come. Among other things, this attitude manifested his availability for Life, God …

 

Meditation: St Ignatius encourages in The Spiritual Exercises No. 2 … Because not so much knowledge, but internal feeling and the taste of things please and saturate the soul, that is, we stay where we feel interior movement … and nervously do not try to go on.

The final conversation: Spend a little time at the end, being with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit….as you would with a good friend: sometimes talking, sometimes listening, sometimes being together in silence. Speak to God about your feelings. Remember that times when ‘nothing is happening’ can also be significant. When you’re ready, end your prayer by saying thank you or using words that are familiar, such as the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father)–whichever feels right and comfortable. (The Spiritual Exercises No.54)

 

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Meditation Lk 14,15-24

The right time has come to reveal outside what the inside has done. The Gospel word for meditation has repeated, on my website you can find more than one introduction for the same periscope. From today, I invite you to deepen Words through replays, as Saint Ignatius says in Spiritual Exercises 2 that not so much knowledge, but internal feeling and the taste of things please and saturate the soul, that is, we stay where we feel interior movement What is a repeat? Referring again to Saint Ignatius in SE 62 we can read: After the Preparatory Prayer and two Preludes, it will be to repeat the First and Second Exercise, marking and dwelling on the Points in which I have felt greater consolation or desolation, or greater spiritual feeling.

Therefore, repetition is a time when prayer takes on a more personal character, becomes simpler and thus called to prayer with simplicity and depth. (cf. Guide to Spiritual Exercises, M.Ivens SJ, p. 156) 

Stand in God’s presence. God is present here and now, looking upon you with love.

Ask for the Grace: I will beg God our Lord that all my intentions and actions may be directed purely to the praise and service of His Divine Majesty

Fixing a place, a picture for meditation:  See a scene from the Gospel or a table in your home, where Jesus is sitting, maybe you and your loved ones.

 

Ask for the fruit of meditation: that I would find the answer to the question: what place does Jesus occupy in my life?

 

  1. When one of those at the table with Jesus

Notice that Jesus is sitting at the table with his guests. On the pages of the Gospel Jesus goes to receptions and dinners several times. He has dinners with other people, in their everyday life. He wants to be present in all human life. Jesus is sitting, maybe lying at the table – that was how they were feasting in those days.

How do you perceive the presence of Jesus in your life? Is sometimes the most common image not Jesus crucified, which is automatically associated with suffering? As today’s pericope shows, Jesus invites everyone, invites you to a feast, to celebrate Life, to celebrate the present moment. How will you respond to his invitation?

  1. When one of those at the table with Jesus

Jesus is at the table. The table usually stands in the center of the apartment, where family gathers, friends. The table unites the family. The most important conversations take place at the table. Jesus is in such a central place in the house.

Look at what place Jesus occupies in your life; do you have a special place that belongs only to him? What does his presence mean for you and the place he occupies in you?

3.     To your reflection, A Pilgrim’s Journey, Ignatius Loyola, p. 91-92:One day, he came across a rich Spaniard who asked him what he was doing there and where he wanted to go. Learning of his plans, the Spaniard took him home for a meal and then kept him there for some days until his departure was arranged.  Ever since his days in Manresa the pilgrim had had the custom, when he was eating with others, of never talking at table, except to give brief answers. But he listened to all that said and mentally noted certain items that he would later use in speaking about God. When the meal was over, he then jointed in the conversation.

Ignatius usually did not speak while eating meals, he was listening. This does not mean, of course, that you also shouldn’t talk during meals. Maybe it is worth making you more focused on listening.

The final conversation: Spend a little time at the end, being with God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit….as you would with a good friend: sometimes talking, sometimes listening, sometimes being together in silence. Speak to God about your feelings. Remember that times when ‘nothing is happening’ can also be significant. When you’re ready, end your prayer by saying thank you or using words that are familiar, such as the Lord’s Prayer (Our Father)–whichever feels right and comfortable. (The Spiritual Exercises No.54)

 

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