something ignatian to share

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness (16) – Who is my Neighbour?

We are so blessed with more than enough basic necessities in life. In spite of this God continues to give us the blessings of a good home, good health, a happy family and faith in the Lord as Our Saviour.

 

Exercise:
As in the earlier exercises, spend some moments composing yourself and getting in touch with the air that you are breathing in as God’s gift of life to you. Then sense the presence of the Holy Spirit within you . . . loving and caring for you.

 

Next, imagine yourself begging in the streets and being rejected by all kinds of people . . . you are shunned, scoffed as a cheat and a parasite of society . . . each of these comments that you hear pierces your heart . . . as you hear your children’s cry of hunger in your home ring in your ears.

 

Now, imagine yourself as one of the passers by. . . you see and sense the pain of this beggar . . . what is the Holy Spirit saying to you in your heart? Speak to the Lord about the way you are responding to the poor and needy of society.
 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness (Part 15) - Holy Spirit within you

As we have set aside this section for some weeks, it is good to return to this Ignatian awareness exercises to help us get in touch with God who is powerfully present in our lives.

 

Exercise:
Begin this exercise by taking in a few deep breaths to relax yourself.  As you take in each breath, be aware of yourself inhaling God’s gift of life that is present in the gift of the air that you are breathing . . . relish the gift of life as many times as you wish.  Such an exercise will help you become more aware of the presence of the Holy Spirit within you. 

As you sense the Holy Spirit . . . be more consciously aware and feel God loving you as His son or daughter.  You are truly precious to Him and He loves you deeply and personally. . . Regardless of how empty and even painful your life may be, know and believe that this Loving God will never abandon you . . . He has sent His Son to show you and tell you how much He loves you . . .

Repeat this simple exercise several times each day e.g. when you are feeling stressed, tired or down or when you are very happy too. When you persevere in this exercise in your daily life you will begin to sense the difference in the quality of your daily living as you now live more consciously in the power of the Holy Spirit within you..

 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness (Part 14)
How can we live a more “discerning life” during our Lenten season? As this season of special graces is associated with “prayer, penance, fasting, alms giving, services to the aged, poor and needy,” one good way is to try to interiorise and sense how you can deepen your union with the Lord more personally through these practices.

Exercise:
Go to a quiet place. Imagine yourself in the presence of Jesus . . . both of you alone. He looks into your eyes . . . you feel Him loving you personally. Ask Him, “Lord, how can I love you more fully? Would you want me to pray more meaningfully or fast more frequently or reach out to my aged mother . . . etc? Sense the Lord’s Spirit speaking to you.
 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness part 13

The Gospel readings this week reminds us of how, in different ways, we do not accept Jesus as fully as we ought to in our daily living. For some of us, we are attached to different material things and comforts and are not able to change our lifestyles. For others, it is not having the will to move out of our “comfort” zones to serve the Church and needs of others e.g. aged, sick, poor etc.

 

Exercise:
Imagine yourself on your dying bed. Reflect on the life that you have lived and then ask yourself, “How have I lived my life for Jesus?” “How is Jesus challenging me to live more fully in His ways?

 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness part 12

As we move into the third week of Advent, we find ourselves waiting with an “expectant-joy”.  This is the joy of knowing and the excitement of receiving the “gift” of the Child Jesus that we are longing to receive.  Some people liken such joy to a mother waiting for her child to be born; she waits with hope, excitement and joy. 

 

Exercise:

Look into your heart and your home and ask yourself, “How am I preparing to welcome this joy of the Child Jesus that is to come?”  “Is my family experiencing more peace, unity and love within the home?  Sense these special invitations that the Holy Spirit is longing to give you even at this moment of your reflection . .

 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness part 11

As we move into the second week of Advent, and hear John the Baptist’s voice echoing, through the Gospel of our need for “repentance for the forgiveness of sins,” let us ponder more deeply on the way we relate to people: e.g. our spouse, parents, children, friend, neighbours, poor and needy in our daily living.

 

Exercise:

Choose a particular relationship or situation in your present life that you consider significant and present it to the Lord. Imagine the Lord talking to them with His compassion, love and patience.

 

Then, ask for the graces to “see” and learn to “accept” people the way that God, Our Lord, would want you to relate to them e.g. with more compassion, love, humility and the like.

 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness part 10
In last week’s part (9) reflection of this section, we pondered on how blessed we are to have God constantly caring and sustaining us in our daily living.  Today, perhaps we could ponder on how God is present in unpredictable situations of our experiences.

This month we experienced unpredictable heavy rain falls that caused heavy traffic jams, drench our clothing on our lines and force us to change some of our plans. Yesterday, there was “flooding” of a foot or two in some parts of Singapore, and some students were late for their A Levels examinations and the like. 

Exercise:
Ponder on God’s presence in such unpredictable situations of life. Life is bigger than me and my concerns.  There is a reality that is beyond my control and needs.  “How do I feel and sense God’s presence in them?”  “How is God challenging me to accept the reality of life with more peace and humility?”
 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness part 9

Our part 8 suggested exercises were to help us get in touch with God’s presence in our daily living more fully i.e. in the water we drink, the food we take and the sleep we have. 

For this week, we could perhaps ponder on how God shows us His love through giving us these gifts of life and sustaining every moment of our day with many different gifts.  God “provides” the millions of people to grow the rice and other food that I consume; without them as God’s gifts to me, I would have no food to eat, unless I cultivate them myself.  Ponder too on how to be able to sleep each night in order to recharge our tired bodies and minds is also a gift from God.  This exercise is to help us not to take God, the giver of our gifts for granted.

Exercise:
Ponder on all these different ways in which God, the Giver of life loves you daily, and try to sense how He loves you personally.  Have a heart-to-heart talk with Him and express your gratitude to Him.

 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness part 8

In our last part (7), we looked at how you could become more consciously aware of God’s presence in your daily living by pausing at different times of each day and sensing how He is present in the gift of your life, through the air that you breathe in at each moment.

We could next ponder on how this loving God is also present in the water that you drink, the food that you consume and the sleep that you take and the like.  These very ordinary activities are not “lived” in isolation and without God.  They are different ways in which God sustains, nourishes and renews us. 

Exercise:
Spend some time each day to ponder on these precious ways in which God is actively sustaining you and keeping you alive. Thank God for them.  These will help you to value your life more fully and love God more personally.
 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness part 7

One way of developing a greater “self-awareness” is to become more fully aware of God’s presence in your life.  At different times of each day try to pause for a few moments; take some deep breaths.  As you inhale the air, be aware that each breath you take is God’s gift of life to you.  Such exercise would help us appreciate our life more fully and avoid taking this gift of God for granted.

As you begin to value the gift of life more fully, also become more aware that God is also present in the air you breathe.  God is not only the giver of your life, but He is personally present in the gift that He is giving you.

Exercise:
Spend some time each day to ponder on the precious gift of life.  As you do this, it may be good to ask yourself, “How am I to live my life more meaningfully?”  “How does God want me to use this gift for Him and the people that He has placed in my life?” 

 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness part 6

When St Ignatius was a young man, he was passionately drawn into the glamour and glory and fantasies of this world’s where the victories of wars, the company of women and the indulgences of secular pleasures, consumed his attention and filled his dreams. However, his encounter with a near death experience of being severely wounded in battle shook him back into the reality of what life is about. In his crisis St Ignatius encountered his authentic self and the God of his life.

However, this was only the beginning of a long journey of discovering more deeply who this God is for him and how He was able to turn his views and fantasies of life around. In his sincere search for the deeper meaning and reasons for his life, he found that God was actually actively present, loving and labouring for him at every moment and all situations of his life. Do we too want to discover this God in our daily living?

Exercise:
Reflect on the way you live your daily life: how you relate with people, how do you care and love them? How do people also care and love you? Are you able to find God in these daily experiences? Write them down in your spiritual diary.
 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness part 5

So far we have been trying to help you to get in touch with and to distinguish between our physical, emotional and spiritual “inner feelings.” This is so that we can become more fully aware of ourselves.

 

A greater self awareness is the most basic and essential need for us to live a more discerning life. In short, these exercises are to help you eventually to live the “Ignatian Spirituality” of learning to find God in yourself, in others and all situations of your life.

 

Exercise:

I would now recommend that you keep a “Spiritual diary” of your “inner feelings.” The main purpose of this diary is to record/describe your different “inner feelings” and how these feelings affect you daily. For example, when you are physically tired, you may find yourself not in the mood to talk or pray.

 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness part 4

I am presuming that you are continuing with the “self-awareness” Exercises that I have been proposing in Parts (2) and (3) of this section on Ignatian Spirituality.

 

The next step is to try to understand how your different “inner feelings” are affecting you differently.  For example, your physical feelings of being hospitalised for some illness, putting on weight etc are affecting you emotionally e.g. making you impatient, upset etc or  they are affecting you spiritually e.g. making you pray more fervently, experience of renewed hope in God etc.

 

Note that your emotional “inner feelings” e.g. anger, jealousy etc too can affect you physically and spiritually. Likewise, your spiritual “inner feelings” can also affect you physically and emotionally. 

 

Exercise:
Continue to be “in touch” with your “inner feelings,” and ask yourself, “How are my different inner feelings affecting me differently?
 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness part 3

I hope you have been trying out the Exercise that I proposed in Part 2 of this Ignatian Spirituality series.  It is to help you get in touch with your different “inner feelings” so that you will be able to distinguish the physical from the emotional or spiritual.  Such awareness can be developed over time; the more we practice this, the “easier” it would be for us to get in touch with ourselves.  


One important “secret” of learning Ignatian Spirituality is the discipline of practising it daily.  The exercises in these series will help us sense our “inner feelings” more fully, and thus, “understand” ourselves more clearly. 

 

Exercise:
As you get in touch with your “inner feelings,” ask yourself, “Where do these feelings come from?” 

 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness part 2

As we continue our reflection on trying to develop and live a more “discerning life” it would be good that we first take a closer look at our  “inner feelings.”Our “inner feelings” of our physical, emotional and spiritual are each distinct, but inseparable.  For example, feeling sleepy is physical, feeling angry is emotional and feeling renewed faith, hope and love for God is spiritual. 

 

Exercise:

Ponder on these different inner feelings each day.  After some time, you will get in touch with your self more fully.  This is essential if we want to live a more discerning life. 

 

Fr Philip Heng, S.J.
 

Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness part 1

As Christians, we are each challenged to live a more discerning life; a more Christ-like life.  Many people drift with the masses in the secular world and imbibe outlooks on life that are materialistic and self-centred.  An “un-discerned life” is a superficial life that is often controlled by emotions.  How true is this of your daily living?

 

To live a more discerning life, we could begin with challenging ourselves to be more fully aware of our  “inner feelings.” Not every “inner feelings” we experience are the same.We each have distinct physical, emotional and spiritual “inner feelings.” Try to be more fully aware of such distinct feelings during the day. To be in touch with our “inner feelings” is the first step towards living a more discerning life.

 

Fr Philip Heng, S.J.