Recap Session 3: February 1, 2009

Greetings Friends! Thank you for taking time to visit the Good Shepherd Blog for a recap of Session 3. As you can see, there are a few new additions to the blog this week- including audio clips of sessions 2 and 3. Have a listen while you review sessions 2 and 3. Hopefully this will be a weekly item on the blog. Since this is the first foray for adult ed into the "virtual world", we are trying out a few "techy" things in the hopes that some or all may be useful as we move forward in ministry at Good Shepherd. As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to e-mail me at http://www.goodshepherdadulted@gmail.com/. Take special note of the sections entitled- "Your Artful Perspective", "Spotlight on Ministry" and the update on our "Culminating Service Project" which is explained at the bottom of the blog. And now for the recap.....

Just a reminder that we will examine each "moment" looking at insights from St. Ignatius as well as insights from Scripture. Have your Bible handy and refer to the verses listed. As I stated before, this is a great opportunity to become more familiar with the Bible. After each scriptural insight, there will be a series of discussion questions. These can be reflected upon individually, with a partner, or possibly in a small group. Since our discussions in Adult Ed will be free-flowing, you might not have had an opportunity to reflect on each question. Remember that St. Ignatius states that in addition to intellect, emotions and feelings help us to come to a knowledge of the action of the Spirit in our lives. As you reflect on the topics and questions at hand, be careful not to let your intellect get in your way! Note your feelings and emotions. What is God saying to you? Give it a try. It may seem foreign now, but it will become second nature.

Discerning God's Call in Your Life: Prayer and Examen-
Moment of Identity

Recall that there are nine stages in a healthy relationship:

• Encounter
• Identity
• Intimacy
• Confrontation
• Conversion
• Reconciliation
• Communion
• Commitment
• Mission

Today we will be examining aspects of our identity and how our knowledge of self informs and evolves as we live a discerning life. It is important to note that the Spirit guides all of our prayer. Our challenge is to become attuned to the delicate invitations and gifts of the Spirit when we pray and as we live in relationships and in service. A heart therefore, that has gradually become attuned to God in prayer will be able to be attuned to God in activity- and to be contemplative in the midst of action. St. Ignatius of Loyola's teachings help us to recognize that God is at our side- always. He knows who we are- not who we think we are.

Recall too that one of Ignatius' key points from session 1 was that all times are times of prayer. He meant for prayer to be an experience. In his Spiritual Exercises, he outlines the "General Examination of Conscience", more commonly known as The Examen. Carol Ann Smith and Eugene Merz in their book, Finding God in each Moment (which incidentally is the genesis of this course) re-frame the Examen in contemporary language. They suggest that you begin by asking the Holy Spirit for light and guidance- reflecting on the events of the day in the context of your relationship with God. Note the gifts and wisdom that occurred throughout the day. Most importantly, note the patterns of grace as well as our acceptance and resistance to God's action. By completing the Examen at least once a day, we are able to be more contemplative in the midst of our actions. Your conversation with God- your prayer- and then engaging in the Examen- are together a thoughtful and deliberate process to help you focus on the action of the Spirit. These are two activities through which we express our desire to discover God's mysterious ways in our being as well as in the events and relationships of our lives.

Moment of Identity

By identity I do not mean the roles, degrees, or pedigrees we have earned or been afforded. Our identity before God without the trappings and distortions of the world, is one which we endeavor to be more Christ-like. We begin to examine our true identity before God by looking at four different aspects:

• Listening
• Attentiveness
• Articulation
• Acceptance

Listening

We are invited to listen to our own inventory. As we become more adept at attending to our thoughts, feelings, and intuitions, we grow in sensitivity and fidelity to our true identity. Attentive listening helps us move to freedom and objectivity.

Ignatian Insight
Ever since Manresa (where St. Ignatius lived in a cave, fasting and had his first vision) [he] had the habit when he ate with anyone never to speak at table, except to answer briefly, but he listened to what was said and noted some things which he took as the occasion to speak about to God, and when the meal was finished, he did so" (Autobiography, p 42)

Scriptural Insight
"...If you hear His voice…” (Hebrews 3:7-8,12-14)

"...the Lord took note and listened..." (Malachi 3:16-17)

Reflection Questions

• When have you felt listened to with attentiveness? What response did that call forth from you?
• What challenges do you experience in listening to another?
• How do you stay open and attentive?
• What do you do with the feelings that get stirred in you when listening to the descriptions of the suffering of others?
• As I listen to diverse views, what is stirred within me?
• Am I learning to listen to my own interiority?
• What indicates that I am listening in prayer?
• What do I discover when I pay attention to my interior reactions and responses?

Attentiveness

The practice of attentiveness prepares us to notice the delicate action of God within our thoughts. Reverent attentiveness to the pattern of specific thoughts and feelings often reveals their significance and meaning within our personal history. Attentiveness makes room for a discernment and interpretation of thoughts and feelings that lead us forward in fidelity to our personal identity.

Ignatian Insight -

"Reading the life of our Lord and of the saints, he stopped to think, reasoning within himself; "What if I should do this which St. Francis did and this which St. Dominic did?...he dwelt at length upon the thoughts that turned up..." (Autobiography, p 7).

Scriptural Insight

"Here I am…” (Samuel 3:1-10)
“…He said to him the third time…do you love me?.....Feed my sheep.” (John 21:17)

Reflection Questions

• What tends to block your attentiveness to God in prayer?
• Are you conscious of, but not limited to, the sequences of logical thought?
• In your relationships, have you experienced congruence between the words spoken and accompanying behavior?
• What helps you to grow in that kind of congruence and integrity?
• Are you using justice as a criterion for deciding to which world issues you will give your attention?
• Under what conditions are you most creative in your thought?
• What types of feelings do I generally attend to with ease?
• What types of feelings do I tend to ignore or deny?
• Throughout your life, what have relationships taught you about reverencing human experience?
• Have you made attention to the cry of the earth a part of your daily faith response?

Articulation of my faith experience

As we become more discerning, opportunities to share our faith experience as well as our growing awareness of the interior movements during an experience can help us to interpret it.

Ignatian Insight-

"In a similar manner, when the enemy of human nature turns his wiles and persuasions upon an upright person, he intends and desires them to be received and kept in secrecy..." (Spiritual Exercises, 51.)

Scriptural Insight

"But who do you say that I am?” (Matthew 16:13-17)
“…Whom are you looking for?” (John 20:14-18)

Reflection Questions

• What do you notice when you share your experience of faith or prayer with another?
• Do you sometimes refrain from sharing your faith experience with others? Why can this be a good thing to do?
• How does articulating our faith experiences with each other affect our interactions as a group?
• What is the challenge for you of including your faith perspective in conversations about controversial world events?
• Who has encouraged you to trust and articulate your experience? How have they done that?
• Have you noticed a growing confidence about your relationship with God as a result of opportunities to share it with others?
• How confident are you about articulating your faith perspective about both personal and public events?

Acceptance of Your Identity

Discernment begins with our personal identity before God. Discernment continuously refines and confirms this identity. As our consciousness of the significance of our baptismal identity develops, that identity in Christ offers practical criteria for our self-image, happiness, and success. god continually calls us to an acceptance of our personal identity. Discernment helps this ongoing process.

Ignatian Insight-

“For everyone ought to reflect that in all spiritual matter, the more one divests oneself of self-love, self-will, and self-interests, the more progress one will make." (Spiritual Exercises, 189).

Scriptural Insight

"I will remove...your heart of stone..." (Ezekiel 36:36-38)

"..and all of us...are being transformed..." (2Corinthians 3:16-18)

Reflection Questions

• Are your priorities consistent with your current life stage and do you review them from time to time?
• How are you balancing the demands of time made by your relationships?
• Are the defining boundaries of Good Shepherd flexible enough to keep us open to God's invitation to become more faithful disciples of Christ?
• How do you limit the impact of cultural trends that reveal themselves to be destructive of, or alien to your adult Christian identity?
• What aspects of your personal identity offer a continual challenge to your honest self-acceptance?
• How are your relationships affecting your personal identity?
• Do your relationships allow you to change and grow?
• How do you offer others an affirmation of their growing identity?
  

To Sum Up

Early in a relationship- with God or another- one shares one's identity and self-understanding. Since one's identity and self-understanding are such fundamental touchstones in discernment, this moment is a time to grow in the ability to listen with care to oneself, each other, and God. We need to be attentive to the varied interior movements of our own minds, hearts, bodies, and spirits. These qualities help us to become more perceptive as we articulate our faith experience. In turn, this will enable us to clarify and accept our growing sense of who we are before God---our identity.

Let us pray

O Christ Jesus, when all is darkness and we feel our weakness and helplessness, give us the sense of Your presence, Your love, and Your strength. Help us to have perfect trust in Your protecting love and strengthening power, so that nothing may frighten or worry us, for, living close to You, we shall see Your hand, Your purpose, Your will through all things. St. Ignatius of Loyola