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Living a more Discerning Life (28) – |
As we begin a new year, it is good that we begin with hope; real hope; hope that lasts and does not elude us when we need it most. This “real hope” can only be found in our relationship with God – God is always faithful and His love for us is always unconditional.
On our part, we are called to value and treasure our relationship with God; that’s the beginning of experiencing the “real hope.” For this, we need to bring to consciousness at different times of each day when we are facing challenges or when we are touched by some happy situations that fill our lives with deeper meanings e.g. renewing of unity in family, receiving forgiveness, reaching out in compassion to someone etc. Thank God for such moments.
Exercise:
Become more conscious of what you are feelings within you . . . e.g. anxiety, anger, peace, joy . . . be in touched with those feelings (pause) . . . ask yourself, “Where are these feelings coming from? . . . try to “accept” the inner feelings a being part of you and who you are . . . “befriend” instead of fighting with these feelings. (pause)
Try to sense the presence of Jesus within these inner feelings . . . e.g. within the anxieties, anger, peace, joy . . . Jesus is also present there with you and for you . . . Feel His compassionate love embracing and loving you so very personally and intimately – His assurances . . . His peace . . .(pause).
Speak to Jesus from your heart . . . and listen to what He is trying to say to you . . .
End your contemplation by praying the “Our Father” that God’s Will be done today and in the coming days . . . |
Living a more Discerning Life (26) –
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To “Be Peace” to someone, we need to “have peace” in our hearts, and to have peace in our hearts, we need to “have Christ’s peace within.” Christ’s peace is a gift. However, this is a gift that we must first be conscious that Christ is giving to us and waiting for us to accept. To accept Christ’s peace we must then be willing to allow Jesus to heal us of our pains so that He can embrace us in His Compassionate Love. When this happens . . . we will become “Christ’s peace” to others.
Exercise:
Look into your heart and sense what is going on . . . “Do you feel peace, joy, or anxiety, hurt, helplessness . . .” Try also to sense that within these “inner feelings” is the loving peace of Christ . . . Focus on sensing His Compassionate Love . . . sense also the different moments when you experienced this Compassionate Love in the past few days . . . recall and relish them . . . sense now the “Peace of Christ within your heart . . .” Have a heart-to-heart sharing with Our Lord, and sense how Jesus wants you to “Be HIS PEACE” to someone (especially if he/she) who has hurt you deeply or treated you unjustly . . . End your contemplation by praying the “Our Father” that God’s Will be done in this Second Week of Advent . . |
Living a more Discerning Life (24) – |
The wisdom of having a “sacred space” in our lives is to make both space and time for us to “get in touch with our truer and deeper self” where Jesus and I spend quiet time together as intimate friends.
Exercise:
As you sit in your “sacred space”, begin to be more fully conscious that you are in God’s presence . . . feel Him enveloping you with great tenderness of compassion and love. As He embraces you . . . feel Him absorbing your pains . . . healing your hurts . . . soothing your anger . . . Hear Him saying to you . . . “I know and feel what you are going through . . . feel the deep love I have for you in your heart.”
Next, feel the joy and the warmth of Jesus renewing you . . . giving you strength, encouragement and hope in your daily living . . . speak to Him from the depth of your heart . . . thank Him for all that you are . . . and the constant care He has for you. End your contemplation by praying the “Our Father” that God’s Will be done in your life and that you will live with greater awareness that He is there with you always. |
Living a more Discerning Life (23) – |
True wisdom is to believe that all we have in life comes from God who loves us unconditionally, compassionately and personally. Let us contemplate on how blessed we are to have such a God in our lives.
Exercise: Allow a present concern you have in your life to surface . . . get in touch with your “inner feelings” . . . how are you feeling? What are your “inner feelings” here and now telling you about what you are going through? Then try to sense that at a deeper level, Jesus is there with you . . . Do you sense that you are not alone? Sense that Jesus loves you unconditionally and totally. He is there for you . . . He is your strength . . . feel His reassuring strength and grace. Imagine Jesus present to you and now holding your hands . . . He does not say a word, but simply looks into your eyes . . . you know He feels everything that you are feeling . . . feel His personal and compassionate love for you. Speak to Jesus from your heart . . . thank Him for being there for you . . . End your contemplation by praying the “Our Father” that God’s Will be done in your life and that you will live with greater awareness that He is there with you always. |
Living a more Discerning Life (22) – |
In this part we will contemplate on how to be more fully conscious of the presence of the Spirit of the Risen Christ in our hearts during this Easter season.
Exercise:
Recall some moments of your day – today; which you often take for granted. Try to get in touch with your “inner feelings” of what happened. (You may for example be recalling the time when you were eating your breakfast with your mom or your aged grandmother who is sick or you may choose to reflect on other happenings of the day - could even be some mundane experience.
Try to open your heart to sense the presence of Jesus, the Risen Lord, within the very experience that you are recalling. . . . feel the unconditional love that Jesus has for you . . . experience His healing grace . . . His forgiving love . . . His strengthening presence in you . . . Pause and relish these moments . . . sense how personal Jesus is to you.
Speak to Jesus from your heart . . . thank Him for being so much part of your life . . . and try to sense what life would be like . . . if the Risen Christ’s Spirit is absent from your heart and life . . . you would be “alone, helpless and even miserable” as there is no longer any hope in life. . . such a life would be meaningless, empty and hopelessly painful. End your contemplation by praying the “Our Father” that God’s Will be done in your life and that you will live more fully in His ways. |
Living a more Discerning Life (21) – |
In this part we will contemplate on the Holy Thursday experiences of Jesus. This hopes to help us enter Holy Week more intensely as God Wills of us.
Exercise:
Imagine yourself in the Upper Room with Jesus and His disciples . . . sense the solemn “Farewell meal” that Jesus is sharing with them . . . open your heart to sense what Jesus is feeling . . . There is a certain silent-solemn tension . . . you sense the sadness, pain and anxiety in Jesus . . . that He has to suffer and eventually be crucified . . . yet, within all these feelings . . . you sense that the divine mystery of salvation has to take its course . . . and Jesus remains strong in His commitment to His Father’s Will. . . .
You are surprised to see Jesus getting up . . . He wraps His waist with a towel . . . takes a basin of water and jug . . . and begins to wash the feet of each of His disciples . .. . you .are shocked. by Jesus’ humility . .. . and sense that this symbolic act of Jesus somehow mirrors His selfless and total sacrifice . . . all for our sake and our salvation . . . This eventually, will lead to His death . . . an unconditional love for us . . . (*to feel the pain of Jesus in this contemplation is to experience the personal compassionate love of Jesus).
End your contemplation by praying the “Our Father” that God’s Will be done in your life and that you will live more fully in His ways. |
Living a more Discerning Life (20) – |
In this part we will contemplate on the Holy Thursday experiences of Jesus. This hopes to help us enter Holy Week more intensely as God Wills of us.
Exercise:
Imagine yourself in the Upper Room with Jesus and His disciples . . . sense the solemn “Farewell meal” that Jesus is sharing with them . . . open your heart to sense what Jesus is feeling . . . There is a certain silent-solemn tension . . . you sense the sadness, pain and anxiety in Jesus . . . that He has to suffer and eventually be crucified . . . yet, within all these feelings . . . you sense that the divine mystery of salvation has to take its course . . . and Jesus remains strong in His commitment to His Father’s Will. . . .
You are surprised to see Jesus getting up . . . He wraps His waist with a towel . . . takes a basin of water and jug . . . and begins to wash the feet of each of His disciples . .. . you .are shocked. by Jesus’ humility . .. . and sense that this symbolic act of Jesus somehow mirrors His selfless and total sacrifice . . . all for our sake and our salvation . . . This eventually, will lead to His death . . . an unconditional love for us . . . (*to feel the pain of Jesus in this contemplation is to experience the personal compassionate love of Jesus).
End your contemplation by praying the “Our Father” that God’s Will be done in your life and that you will live more fully in His ways. |
Living a more Discerning Life (20) –Observing Lenten Season more Wholeheartedly |
As Sacred Scriptures and Our Church reminds us that our Lenten season is a “season of joy” that entails more “fasting, alms giving and penance.” How do we reconcile such seemingly contradictory statements make sense to you? As in Part 19 of our Ignatian Spirituality reflection exercises in this bulletin, let us continue our Ignatian contemplation to get in touch with God more fully in our daily living.
Exercise:
Recall a recent event in your life where you could have ate and drank certain food/drink excessively . . . imagine – “see and smell” the details of the place and the people who were with you . . . hear yourselves talking . . . feel your “excessive” behaviour and ways . . . [pause].
Next, imagine Jesus dining and seating with all of you . . . He is pleasant and nonjudgmental, but as you observe Him more attentively, you now notice that He did not condone your ways. Instead, He was gently showing you how you should be more moderated in your eating, drinking and talking about people and things.
Try to sense Jesus’ gentle and persuasive ways that are so subtle and respectful. He wants to win you over through His kindness, understanding, compassion and love for you. Feel all these happening to you now and allow them to seep into your heart and consciousness more deeply. When you experience these graces, you are experiencing the “joys of the Lenten season.” End your contemplation by praying the “Our Father” that God’s Will be done in your life and that you will live more fully in His ways. |
Living a more Discerning Life (19) – Sense Jesus' Consoling Presence |
As in Part 18 of our Ignatian Spirituality reflection exercises in this bulletin, let us continue our Ignatian contemplation to get in touch with God more fully in our daily living.
Exercise:
Recall a recent painful event in your life . . . see the person(s) and imagine vividly the scene where this experience happened. Hear the words spoken by the person(s) and yourself . . . feel once again what made it so painful and hurtful . . . pause and get in touch with the experiences.
Then, imagine Jesus standing/sitting beside you . . . see Jesus looking into your eyes . . . He feels your pain because He loves you so much . . . [pause] allow Jesus’ compassion for you to soothe your pain . . . and renew your hope in life . . . you now sense more deeply that you are now not alone . . . Jesus, your Loving Companion will never abandon you.
Try to sense how the presence of Jesus has deepened your present consolation . . . look at Jesus and sense His compassionate love more fully . . . Speak to Jesus from your heart . . . ask Him, “How can I allow Your compassion and love for me, to renew and strengthen me in my daily living?” . . . spend the next moments listening and sensing His presence in your heart . . . He is there sharing your pain . . . caring for you . . . loving you . . . your family . . . always. |
Living a more Discerning Life (18) – Living more fully in Jesus' Presence |
As in Part 17 of our Ignatian Spirituality reflection exercises in this bulletin, let us resume our Ignatian contemplation to get in touch with God more fully in our daily living.
Exercise: Recall a recent happy moment in your life . . . see the person(s) and imagine vividly the scene where this happy experience happened. Hear the words spoken by the person(s) and yourself .
Then, imagine Jesus standing/sitting beside you and see Him feeling happy for you because you are happy … sense this more deeply . . . allow Jesus’ presence to fill you and the person(s) more fully with His peace and love.
Try to sense how the presence of Jesus has deepened the happiness of your experience . . . look at Jesus and sense His love more fully . . . Speak to Jesus from your heart . . . ask Him, “How can I love You more dearly in my daily living?” . . . spend the next moments listening and sensing His presence in your heart . . . He is there loving you . . . your family . . . always.
End your contemplation by praying the “Our Father” that God’s Will be done in your life and that you will live more fully in His ways. |
Living a more Discerning Life – Self Awareness (17) – God's Abundant Blessings on Me |
As in Part 16 of our Ignatian Spirituality reflection exercises in this bulletin, let us once again ponder on how God continues to give us His abundant blessings.
Begin by spending some moments composing yourself. First, sit up straight in a quiet sacred space of your home and then close your eyes . . . focus on your nostrils and be conscious of the precious air that you are breathing in .. . relish God’s gift of life to you in each of your breath . . . Sense the presence of the Holy Spirit within you . . . loving and caring for you.
Next, imagine yourself in a situation where you are very stressed as you may be losing your present job, the bank is repossessing your car, your health is poor as your doctors say you have cancer, your family’s financial needs are desperate and your friends and relatives have “disowned” you and the like. Where is God in such pain and sufferings of your life? . . . you search your heart . . . eventually, you find the answer . . . God is within you . . . He has not abandoned you.
Now, bring your attention to your present life: you see how your present life is secure financially (for many of us we live very comfortable lives), your family loves you, you have good health, your present career is stable, you have good relatives and friends and the like . . . Sense God’s presence in all these abundant blessings . . . Imagine the Lord sitting in front of you . . . sense His love for you . . . speak to Him from your heart and express your deep gratitude to Him . . .
Next, pause and look into the eyes of Jesus . . . Try to sense His deep care and love for you and your family, blessing you with health, wealth etc. Get in touch with the inner feelings of your heart and try to sense the following questions, “How does the Lord want me to value and nurture the abundant blessings of faith, family, friends, wealth, health that He has given me? “How does the Lord want me to live more fully in His ways?” Speak to the Lord from your heart. . . End your contemplation by praying the “Our Father” that God’s Will be done in your life and that you will live in His ways |
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:
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: 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: |
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: |
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: |
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: |
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: |
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: |
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.
Exercise: |
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. |
