Journey with Jesus E-Book

Larry Warner

• Herausgeber: IVP Formatio
• Kategorie: Religion und Spiritualität
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Seitenzahl: 417

Beschreibung

In A Journey with Jesus, spiritual director Larry Warner guides us through the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius, similar to the way he's been leading people through them in person. Here's what he's observed: "The Spiritual Exercises helped people reconnect with Jesus and with themselves in life-giving ways. It was powerful."Ignatius wanted to help everyone, no matter what age or stage of life, experience Jesus. Through prayers and Scripture readings that largely focus on the life of Christ, the Spiritual Exercises that have been so powerful and growth-inducing for so many, including Warner, can be a tool for transformation in you as well. The exercises are designed to help you - encounter the person of Jesus - foster a deeper relational knowing of Jesus - cultivate a greater desire and freedom to say yes to JesusThis book will guide you through Ignatius's traditional thirty-day retreat approach as well as the nine-month journey which allows you to take these practices into the "real world" each day.And you don't have to go on a retreat to do it. You can start now, and grow in Christlikeness right in the midst of your life. Are you hungry for Jesus and ready to do something about it? Are you committed to a sticking with a sustained journey of growth and formation in Christ? Then this book is for you. Open these pages, and let Warner guide you on the journey toward deeper intimacy with Jesus.

Leseprobe

Journey with Jesus

Discovering the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius

Larry Warner

www.IVPress.com/books

InterVarsity Press P.O. Box 1400 Downers Grove, IL 60515-1426 World Wide Web: www.ivpress.com E-mail: [email protected]

© 2010 by Larry Warner

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from InterVarsity Press.

InterVarsity Press® is the book-publishing division of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA®, a movement of students and faculty active on campus at hundreds of universities, colleges and schools of nursing in the United States of America, and a member movement of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students. For information about local and regional activities, write Public Relations Dept. InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, 6400 Schroeder Rd., P.O. Box 7895, Madison, WI 53707-7895, or visit the IVCF website at www.intervarsity.org.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®.NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

The poem “The Cross” by Lois A. Cheney is taken from God Is No Fool (Nashville: Abingdom, 1969), p. 105. It is reprinted here by permission of the author.

Design: Cindy Kiple

Images: gravel pathway: Clayton Bastiani/Trevillion Images decorative border: iStockphoto

ISBN 978-0-8308-6753-0 (digital) ISBN 978-0-8308-3541-6 (print)

This book is dedicated to the students, faculty and staff of the Institute of Spiritual Formation at Biola University from 2007 to 2010 who allowed me to journey with them through the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. This book is an outflow of our times together in class and spiritual direction. Thank you for permitting me to be a part of your journey with Jesus. I count it an honor and privilege to have been able to journey with you through the Exercises and to be given a front-row seat from which to watch what God was doing in and through you during that season of your life.

Contents

Introduction

Part One: Getting the Most Out of the Exercises

1: The Daily Elements of the Exercises

2: The Benefits of a Spiritual Director or Listener

3: Tips on How to Approach the Exercises

Part Two: Preparatory Exercises

1: The History of Preparatory Exercises

2: God’s Love

3: Principle and Foundation

Part Three: The Spiritual Exercises

Week 1: Sin, Me and God’s Love

Week 2: Walking with Jesus

Week 3: Journey to the Cross

Week 4: Resurrection of Jesus

Part Four: Resources

Biography of St. Ignatius of Loyola

Ash Wednesday and Holy Week Exercises

Shorter Options for Journeying through the Exercises

For Spiritual Directors and Listeners

Using the Exercises with a Group

Reviewing Your Journey through the Exercises

About Metamorpha

Notes

Glossary

Acknowledgments

Praise for Journey with Jesus

About the Author

About Formatio

More Titles from InterVarsity Press

Introduction

This book, an adaptation of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, was written to help you to enter into a holistic, life-transforming journey toward Christlikeness. This is not another book about the methods or techniques of Christian formation but a vehicle that enables you to come before God through the Gospel narratives in order to meet Jesus again for the first time. If you have grown weary of hearing and reading about spiritual formation and are ready to dive heartfirst into a spiritual formation experience, this book may be the right book for you. In fact, near the end of this introduction, you will find a list of statements under the heading “Is This Book for You?” that will help you determine just that.

If you are continuing to read through this introduction, then you are feeling a pull toward, or at least an interest in, the journey set down in the pages of this book. A Journey with Jesus is not for spectators but for those with a hunger for something deeper, a yearning to walk with Jesus (not just read about Jesus), a desire to embrace more of what God has for you, a longing to be equipped to partner with what God is doing in and through you, a willingness to get down and get dirty with God, Jesus and yourself. These desires will serve you well as you embark on the adventure of faith contained within these pages. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let us continue with the introduction.

Two Worlds Collide

This book is an outgrowth of two worlds colliding: my twenty-first-century world of Protestant Christianity and a set of writings from the counter-reformation period of the sixteenth century: the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. The catalyst for this colliding of worlds were the words of Dallas Willard in his book The Divine Conspiracy. While reading it, I ran across a sentence that momentarily caught my attention and was then forgotten. Yet unbeknownst to me, that sentence would be used by God to fuel my exploration of the sixteenth-century writings that form the foundation and essence for what will be found, entered into and experienced in the pages of this book. Willard suggested that the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius would be a good template for creating a curriculum for Christlikeness.

If you . . . make necessary adjustments to the content . . . you will see [the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius] offer in substance . . . a curriculum, a course for training, for life on the rock. And that is why, century after century, they have exercised incredible power over all who open themselves up to them as disciples of Jesus.

Though at the time I had no idea what the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius was, these words of Willard would be used by God to open me up to the richness and value contained in these writings of Ignatius at the appropriate time.

It turned out that the “appropriate time” came about five years later, when I felt God’s prompting to pursue training in the art of spiritual direction. I hesitantly moved forward and eventually enrolled in a training program at a Catholic university. As I began the course, I discovered that the Exercises would serve as the foundation for my training. It was at this point that my Protestant world and the sixteenth-century writings of Ignatius began to collide.

Over the next two years, as I worked my way through the Exercises, I began to fall in love with the various types of prayer that compose them. The prayer styles enabled me to come before God with a new openness and honesty, to be with God and to hear from God in ways I never had before. I was also delighted by the emphasis on the person of Jesus. He was presented in the Exercises not as a subject to be studied, but as a person to dialogue with, learn from and walk alongside. I began to see and experience firsthand what Willard had alluded to in his book regarding the use of the Exercises as a curriculum for Christlikeness. As I spent time with Jesus in the Exercises, my spirit was enlivened and my heart transformed. The wisdom and insight contained in them, as well as the holistic emphasis on body, mind and spirit, made so much sense to me.

In the years following the spiritual direction program, I began introducing people to the Exercises and experimenting with many of the prayer styles incorporated throughout them. I watched and observed how the Exercises helped people to reconnect with Jesus and with themselves in life-giving ways. After a couple years of doing this, I was asked to coauthor a book titled Imaginative Prayer for Youth Ministry, which was drawn from material found in the Exercises.

A little more than four years ago, a professor and administrator of an evangelical seminary asked me, “If you could teach anything you wanted to in the area of spiritual formation, what would you like to teach?” I heard myself saying, “I would love to lead an interactive class based on the Exercises, because I have come to appreciate them as a powerful tool for spiritual formation.” Now, as they say, “the rest is history.” I am finishing my fourth year at that seminary, leading deans, professors, administrative staff and seminarians through the Exercises and again seeing lives touched and transformed by God using them. The material that composes much of this book flows out of my experience leading people through the Exercises at that seminary.

About the Exercises

For nearly five hundred years, the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius have been a tool for spiritual formation into Christlikeness. During those years their popularity has ebbed and flowed, but they are now experiencing a revival of sorts within both Protestant and Catholic circles. I believe this is in large part due to the renewed emphasis on spiritual formation, as well as the desire many Christians have to experience the person of Jesus in meaningful ways, thus making the Exercises the prefect choice.

My attraction to the Exercises flows from the fact that they were not written by a theologian or scholar but by Ignatius long before he received any formal religious education. These writings are an outpouring from Ignatius’s own conversion and subsequent experience of walking with God (see biography on p. 263). Ignatius took notes on what happened as he walked with God, on what he read and on what others taught him along the way, and he eventually compiled all that into a manual of sorts that became known as the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

The Exercises were crafted by Ignatius to help people, all people, to encounter Jesus. So strong was his passion for giving the Exercises to others so they might know Jesus that he willingly went to jail on a number of occasions for leading people through them. The emphasis of the Exercises is growth and development into internal conformity to Christ, freedom in Christ and greater intimacy and union with God. These Exercises are built on a twofold foundation of Scripture and Jesus, with the vast majority of the material being drawn from the Gospels. The trajectory of the Exercises follows Jesus’ life—birth, early ministry, passion and resurrection—using the relevant biblical narratives to guide retreatants through the life of Christ.

Once the sole property of Catholics, more and more Protestants are discovering the treasure chest of spiritual formation tools contained in these ancient writings and are beginning to make use of them as never before. Rather than seeking to make use of these tools independent from the Exercises, this book keeps the tools firmly situated within the intended structure of the Exercises. This will enable you to get a sense of their original intention and use as you journey through them and will also familiarize you with them so you can wisely continue to make use of them once you have completed your time in the Exercises.

The sections of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola used in this book are paraphrases based on the literal translation of the Spanish autograph by Father Elder Mullan (1914) and the translation of David Fleming, both of which where published in Fleming’s Draw Me into Your Friendship, and the translation of George Ganss found in his book The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius. For the most part, the text of the Exercises is not quoted here in A Journey with Jesus, but functional equivalents were chosen. References in the notes referring to these paraphrases and quotes are from Fleming’s book.

Adaptability

Jesus had radically changed Ignatius’s life, and he wanted others to have the opportunity to experience that change for themselves. Thus Ignatius designed the Exercises so they would be accessible to all people who desired to walk more closely with Jesus, no matter their station or vocation in life.

Traditionally, when people speak of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius, they are referring to a format of a thirty-day experience in which a retreatant would remove himself from his ordinary responsibilities and withdraw to a retreat center or monastery. During this time the retreatant would spend five one-hour periods in prayer each day, beginning at midnight. He would also meet daily with a spiritual director.

But this was not the only method Ignatius made available to those desiring to journey through the Exercises. He was well aware that the thirty-day method would make it nearly impossible for many to take advantage of this remarkable means of spiritual formation, so he provided two other methods for people to journey through the Exercises. One of these is known as the “19th Annotation,” which allows those involved in “public affairs or pressing occupations” to journey through the Exercises. This type of experience in the Exercises is also referred to as “the Spiritual Exercises made in everyday life.” It is this form of the Exercises that is found in this book.

I want to assure you that this book is not a watered-down version of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius. Its form is in harmony with Ignatius’s original intention, and there is ample evidence that he made use of this mode of giving the Exercises to others. Although this is seemingly less intense and demanding than the thirty-day retreat, do not think using the 19th Annotation is easy or is used by God in less significant or transforming ways.

I have journeyed with a few people who had experienced the thirty-day retreat and then went through the nine-month journey as well. As I spoke with them, there were aspects of the 19th Annotation journey that were far more difficult in their own way than some aspects of the thirty-day retreat. These individuals also commented on the value of journeying through the Exercises in the midst of life and how that experience naturally led to them making many of the practices an ongoing part of the rhythm of their life long after the Exercises were over. The question of how to take the practices back into the “real” world was not one they had to deal with in the abstract, but rather one that was lived out naturally each and every day.

Although this book has sought to retain the spirit of the Exercises, it also differs from the original Exercises in a number of ways. First, the fact that you—the one who may soon be journeying through the Exercises—are holding this book containing them is a major deviation from tradition. Traditionally, the only person in possession of the Exercises was the person who was journeying with you through them as your spiritual director. This is because the written Exercises were really a manual to be used to guide someone. The director would speak about the part of the Exercises you needed to know, but you would not be given the manual.

The Exercises were not to be journeyed through alone, and this is the danger inherent in producing a book like this. As with the original version, this adaptation is not to be journeyed through without the help of a spiritual director. A spiritual director plays an extremely important role in helping you to get the most out of the Exercises, while also assisting you so you do not fall into the snares that are common to many who take this journey, including Ignatius. So, when the time comes for you to enter into the Exercises, I strongly urge you to seek out a director who will make this journey with you. If I could make it a criminal offense to go through the Exercises without a spiritual director, I would.

Another difference in this adaptation is the inclusion of some quotes, optional exercises and prayers to bring greater variety to your time in the Exercises and to create a little extra space and freedom for you from time to time. Also added are questions that follow the Scripture passages for each day and were not part of the original Exercises. These are provided to help you explore and interact with the text. All these additions to the Exercises are a result of my journey through them with others and are provided to enhance your experience in them.

Finally, in the body of the Exercises is a voice in the form of text boxes sprinkled throughout. This voice serves as a guide. These were not part of the original Exercises but were added as I discovered some of the difficulties those going through the Exercises often have. They are provided to help you deal with these common struggles. They are not there to replace the need for a spiritual director but to augment the director’s role.

These adaptations to the Exercises as found in this book have sought to keep intact the essence and genesis of the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius while also providing ongoing guidance and direction as you journey through them. These additional pieces are in harmony with the spirit with which Ignatius penned the original Exercises.

Benefits of the Exercises

Walking with Jesus. It was my desire to walk with Jesus that helped me to fully engage in the Exercises and journey through them. This has also been true for those with whom I have journeyed through the Exercises. They each have had a deep yearning to walk with Jesus, to know and experience Jesus in an interactive and personal way. That is exactly what the Exercises help to facilitate.

The goal of the prayer practices found in the Exercises is not to learn more about Jesus but rather to personally walk with Jesus, meet Jesus and interact with Jesus. The daily prayer practices and the use of the Gospel narratives are intended to engender encounter with Jesus so that you will begin to know Jesus more clearly, love Jesus more dearly and follow Jesus more nearly. In fact, to know Jesus more clearly, love Jesus more dearly and follow Jesus more nearly is the stated purpose of Week 2 [Please note that Week (with a capital W ) does not refer to a seven-day period but rather to a section or movement within the Exercises. Each Week has its own focus.] of the Exercises. The sections that follow Week 2 continue the journey with Jesus, walking with Jesus to the cross (Week 3) and journeying with the resurrected Christ (Week 4). The thrust of the Exercises is encountering the person of Jesus, fostering a deeper relational knowing of him and a greater desire and the freedom to say yes to him. This daily walking with, encountering and fixing your eyes on Jesus is one of the great benefits for those who journey through the Exercises. If you have this same desire to be with Jesus, this book will help you do just that.

Finding God in all things. Another result of the days, weeks and months spent in the Exercises is a greater awareness of God in the ordinary stuff of everyday life. In fact, those who study Ignatius’s Exercises use the phrase “finding God in all things” as the quintessential summary of them. The daily prayer practices each morning, afternoon and evening, when truly entered into, birth a growing awareness of God within you and around you. Your spirit becomes sensitized to the movements of God in and through the circumstances and relationships of your life. You gradually begin to develop the spiritual eyesight needed to see “the invisible which is eternal rather than merely the visible which is temporal” (to paraphrase the apostle Paul’s words). You will see your times in the Word, at work, at school, at home and with others through new eyes. And you will begin to realize that it is through these various realities that you are provided with the opportunity to experience God and partner with God’s Spirit in being more and more conformed to the image of Jesus.

This “finding God in all things” is another of the benefits that gradually become internalized over the course of your time in the Exercises and will continue to be a part of internal awareness long after you have finished your journey through the Exercises. You are equipped to live life with the ongoing awareness that in God you live, move and have your being, come what may.

Developing prayer practices. Finally, as you journey through the Exercises, you will participate in a wide variety of prayer practices. These practices may initially feel cumbersome but eventually will become part of the fabric of your experience in the Exercises and in your life. Though these prayer practices are tied to Ignatius’s Exercises, their value extends beyond the Exercises, and they can be spiritual formation tools that will continue to be a part of your life, shaping and molding you into Christlikeness long after the Exercises are over. Many of those who have made use of these prayer practices long after finishing the formal exercises also have introduced some of these practices to family and friends.

Is This Book for You?

Prayerfully and honestly work through the statements below, asking God to reveal to you if this book is the right spiritual formation vehicle for you at this time.

You have a strong desire to know Jesus more intimately, love Jesus more fully and follow Jesus more wholeheartedly.

You have a longing for a deeper, richer and more expansive relationship with God.

You desire to live with an internalized awareness that in God you live, move and have your being, and to find God in all things.

You have the desire, time (fifty to seventy-five minutes a day, seven days a week for about nine months) and space in your life to fully engage in the Exercises.

You are willing to be open and honest with God, your spiritual director and yourself as you journey through these Exercises.

You are willing to follow Jesus during good times and difficult times.

You are open to having your theology and image of Jesus challenged and expanded.

You yearn to walk with Jesus through the Gospel narratives in a holistic and interactive way rather than merely read about Jesus.

You are willing to say no to whatever holds you back from spiritual freedom.

You desire to enter into a spiritual practice that will help you better partner with what God is doing in you to conform you to the image of Christ.

You long for a vehicle that will help you to be more consistent and intentional in spending time with Jesus and connecting with God throughout the day.

You sense the gentle invitation of God to enter into the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola.

If there is a yes that rises from deep within you as you read through the above list, or if you sense the quivering of excitement beginning to grow in your spirit as you consider the possibility of walking with Jesus through the Gospels, or if it is not so dramatic but simply a gentle knowing that this is for you, I strongly encourage you to embark on this journey.

If none of the above is the case, this may not be the right vehicle for you at this time. God works uniquely with each person, and the important thing is not that you are doing this or that, but that you are where God wants you. If this is not the right timing for you, please do not forget about the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola, for there may very well be a time that these Exercises will be the exact vehicle for spiritual formation God desires you to embrace.

Following the Rhythm

As you read through this introduction, you may be getting eager to embark on your journey through the Exercises. Please resist this temptation and slowly make your way through part 1, which offers an overview of what your daily time with God will look like, important tips on getting the most out of the Exercises, an explanation of the methods you will use to interact with God through the Scriptures, an expanded daily rhythm template and some down-to-earth explanations of prayer practices, journaling, the importance of a spiritual director and tips on how to find a spiritual director.

Skipping over part 1 could very well rob you of many of the benefits associated with going through the exercises and open you up to a greater degree to the struggles that can be experienced by those who go through the Exercises. Part 1 will help you be prepared for what will likely arise during your journey through the Exercises, while also providing excellent tips so you can maximize your experience. You will find that once you are familiar with it, part 1 will be a place you will revisit throughout your journey through the Exercises, a place filled with wisdom and insight to be drawn upon and used time and time again.

The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola have been a valuable spiritual formation tool for almost five hundred years, and in this book, great care has been taken to remain true to the original form and spirit of the Exercises, while also making them readily accessible for those in our day and age who are hungering for more from their Christian life. These exercises will bring you face to face with Jesus, helping you to love Jesus more dearly, follow Jesus more closely and love God and others as never before. Do not grow weary or lose heart as you journey through the Exercises, but keep your eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of your faith, who journeys with you, guiding, directing, enlightening and empowering you.

Part OneGetting the Most Out of the Exercises

1 The Daily Elements of the Exercises

This section provides an overview of what a normal day in the Exercises will look like, while also explaining the components involved. If you desire further elaboration on a specific component, you will be directed where to find this information at the end of the component’s summary. The format below will appear at the beginning of each week. As your journey continues, you will naturally flow through your time in the daily prayer practices, but at first it can seem overwhelming.

You are expected to spend fifty to seventy-five minutes in the Exercises each day. This period is comprised of the parts delineated below, including the General Examen of Conscience, which is done at noontime and in the evening. There are no individual periods listed for the components (except for the examen; five to fifteen minutes). You proceed as God guides and directs. Some days it may take you a long time to slow down; other days you may spend a long time journaling or sitting in silence with God. There is flexibility within this structure so that you may be free to connect with God as God leads and directs you. The structure keeps you on track and provides you ample opportunity to linger along the way.

If possible, begin each new section of the Exercises on Mondays. This way Sunday, which can be a very busy and demanding day, is a review or repetition day—something easier to enter into on a busy day than a new meditation. But by all means, feel free to choose any day to be your beginning day.

Daily Elements

Opening. Your time each day begins with the opening, which is designed to prepare you to enter into the presence of God and ready you for the assigned meditation for the day. This opening format is made of several components and will remain unchanged in structure for the most part throughout your time in the Exercises.

Prayer. The opening begins with you coming into God’s presence, remembering who you are and who God is. Seek to foster an attitude of respect and also ask God for help throughout your day. This opening is referred to as preparatory prayer and involves a conscious effort to present yourself before God “as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God” (Rom 12:1) and ready yourself to be present to God.

This is also the time to practice the prayer of recollection. Recollection involves a profound turning of the self at its root toward God, in order to allow God to mark, mold and shape you.

The prayer of recollection involves orienting all that you are, just as you are, to God. This means remembering and reflecting on who you are, on your struggles and difficulties with yourself and with God, and on who this God is into whose presence you are entering. The preparatory prayer and the prayer of recollection provide the foundation on which your daily prayer time is built. It is not to be hurried through. This is all part of offering yourself to God as a living and holy sacrifice, which is pleasing to God.

Slowing down. The next step will be the slowdown. The goal of the slowdown is to settle down and settle into this time with God. (There are a number of suggestions regarding how to conduct a slowdown under “Slowing Down” below.)

Ask for desired grace. The desired grace is what you will be asking God for—not demanding from God, but asking God for. The grace will change from time to time but, as a rule, each section has one or two graces you will be asking God for each time you enter the day’s meditation. The graces asked for are the very things that the daily meditations in each section are meant to foster within you. The specific grace you will ask for will be noted at the beginning of each new week.

Ask God to guide and direct you. Finally, you will close this opening segment by asking God to guide and direct you through your time.

As you can see, throughout this opening you will be continuing to present yourself before God and to convey your need for God and your desires to God. This opening should be fully entered into and not rushed through. Some days you may want to linger as you initially come before God, while other days you may need to take a few minutes to begin to slow yourself down internally. God may very well meet you during the beginning, so seek to be truly present to God and yourself as you make your way through the opening each day.

Daily exercise. Each day you will be provided the subject matter of the meditation and the suggested way to interact with that subject matter. Often questions will be furnished to help you interact with material for your prayer time. The questions are not a part of the original Exercises and are given as an aid, a prompt, a suggestion, not as an assignment to complete.

Sometimes there will be prayers to pray during this time in addition to the mediation, prayers such as the Lord’s Prayer or the Soul of Christ. Often you will be invited to pray to God and/or Jesus in what is called a colloquy, a “little conversation.” These will all be outlined in your daily exercise material.

Journaling. Some people also find it helpful to journal during this time. After your meditation time (or during it), take time to journal. (For additional information and tips, see “Journaling” below.)

Closing. When you have finished the prayer time and journaling, you will take a few moments to be with God, seeking to be present to the One who is always present to you, taking time to soak in God’s love for you, God’s presence within you. The time here often lengthens as you journey through the Exercises. When you are ready, you will conclude your time with prayer. This concludes your prayer time in the Exercises.

Noontime and evening examen. This brings you to the General Examen of Conscience, or what is commonly referred to as the prayer of examen. You will be given questions at the beginning of each section to use during step 3 of the examen. These questions apply to the material you spent time with during the morning prayer time. The examen takes five to fifteen minutes and is prayed twice a day. Please make sure you read the section on the prayer of examen (see “Prayer of Examen” below).

Weekly review/repetition days. One or two days each week are review days. If you start going through the exercises for the week beginning on Monday (called day 1), your review/repetition day will usually be every Thursday (day 4) and will definitely be every Sunday (day 7). Feel free to switch the midweek review/repetition day around a little. It is best to have them on day 3, 4 or 5 of the week. These days afford you the opportunity to go back and explore passages you felt strongly drawn to or resistant toward. These can be very powerful and insightful days that lead to new personal as well as divine discoveries.

The outline above is the daily rhythm you will be following throughout your time in the Exercises. There will be minor changes made from time to time: the grace will change, and the questions for the examen will change with each section. There will also be new additions, which will be highlighted and explained at the beginning of the section in which they appear. It is helpful to read the grace and the examen every time you move into a new section of the Exercises.

Slowing Down

How you enter into the exercises is very important. It sets the tenor of your time with God. The slowdown is a time of personal preparation before entering into your daily time with God. It is a time to ready your heart, mind and spirit to come before God, be open to God and listen for the still small voice of God. Though the methods below are not a part of Ignatius’s Exercises, they emphasize the need for preparation when you come into God’s presence.

Below are three methods to help you slow down and be present to God and yourself. Each method contains common elements of breathing (focus on body), letting go of thoughts, worries and pressures (focus on mind, heart), and prayer (focus moves from self to God). These elements will help prepare you to be open to what God has for you. Remember to go slowly. Intentionally making this step a part of your daily experience will make a huge difference as you continue your journey through the Exercises.

1. Start by getting into a comfortable position. Once you are comfortable, begin to take slow, deep breaths. Breathe in enough air to expand your chest. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. As you continue taking slow, deep breaths, allow your mind to slow down, letting go of thoughts and worries. Release the tension of your body. Let the stress flow from your muscles. Allow your body to relax.

Continue taking slow, deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth as you imagine that God is breathing life, love and peace into you with each breath you take. As you breathe out, imagine stress, anxiety, fear and any feelings that weigh you down leaving you. Feel yourself sinking deeper and deeper into the presence of God.

Conclude this time with a silent prayer, offering yourself to God, asking that God would guide and direct you through the exercise and requesting the desired grace for the day. (Allow at least three to five minutes for this method.)

2. (This slowdown step is similar to the previous, but it adds hand movements combined with deep breathing.) Start by getting into a comfortable position, then begin to take slow, deep breaths. Breathe in enough air to expand your chest. Breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth. As you continue taking slow, deep breaths, allow your mind to slow down, letting go of thoughts and worries. Release the tension of your body. Let the stress flow from your muscles. Continue taking slow, deep breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth.

As you continue to slowly and deeply breathe, turn your hands over, palms down. Imagine yourself dropping those things that are weighing you down: your worries, concerns and frustrations, the things that bring you emotional discomfort or pain. When you feel you’ve been able to let these things go, turn your hands over, palms up. This represents your readiness to enter into imaginative prayer and to receive what God has for you.

Conclude this time with a silent prayer, offering yourself to God, asking that God would guide and direct you and requesting the desired grace for the day. (Allow at least three to five minutes for this method.)

3. This method may or may not be combined with the breathing techniques of the above slowdown methods. The difference here is that instead of imagining you are breathing out your worries and concerns or dropping them to the ground, you write them on a piece of paper and then put the paper somewhere out of sight until you are done with the exercises. This way you have told yourself, “I am not going to think about all this now, but I will be able to, if I so choose to, after I am finished with my time with God in the exercises.” When you are done writing out your worries and concerns, come to God, asking God to guide you through the exercise and also requesting the desired grace for the day.

Don’t be afraid to explore different ways of doing the slowdown, and put into practices what is most helpful to you. The slowdown’s purpose is to help you to let go of those things in your mind and heart that would hinder your ability to be present to God. Whatever means you use to help you to do this is great.

Caution: At some points in your journey, you may be convinced that those things that surface during the slowdown are the things you should be spending your prayer time pondering. Resist this temptation, because it will take you away from the rhythm and flow of what God is doing through your journey, take you away from what God called you to be present to.

Also do not get stuck in trying to get the slowdown right. Slow down your inner being the best you can and move on, trusting that God will honor the intention of your heart.

Prayer of Examen

As you journey through the Exercises, you will be asked to do a prayer of examen at noontime and in the evening. The noontime examen helps you to reconnect with God after your initial morning time in the Exercises, while the evening examen is designed to help you bookend your day with time spent with God. You will follow the traditional format for the examen outlined below and use the assigned examen questions from the daily exercises during step 3. The examen should take no longer than fifteen minutes and can be completed within a much shorter time frame.

The prayer of examen over time will enable you to become more aware and sensitive to the reality of living, moving and being in God’s presence (Acts 17:28) and alert to the invitations that flow from God to you throughout your day. Make sure you become familiar with the prayer of examen and endeavor to quickly make it a part of your daily experience in the Exercises. This prayer practice will have an extraordinary impact on your experience and will assist you in “finding God in all things,” which is a desired outcome of your time in the Exercises.

The examen was the central element of Ignatian spirituality. Ignatius would give permission to his followers to refrain from various types of prayers for a season, but not from the prayer of examen. This prayer is steeped in biblical tradition. The essence of the examen is not external change but internal transformation. It is not another avenue of self-scrutiny but rather an opening to divine awareness. The goal of the examen is to gradually develop an internalized openness and sensitivity to the promptings and invitations of God throughout the course of your day. It is an aid to finding God in all things and becoming aware of the disordered attachments within you that hinder your freedom to say yes to God.

The origins for the prayer of examen are traced back to the Psalms, in particular Psalm 139:23-24, in which David asked God to “search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” The prayer of examen was birthed from this passage.

There are two examens in Ignatius’s Exercises: the Daily Particular Examen of Conscience and the General Examen of Conscience/ Consciousness. As indicated by the name, the Particular Examen of Conscience is highly focused, while the General Examen of Conscience involves an overall sense of an entire day or other period.

General Examen of Conscience. Listed below are the steps for the General Examen of Conscience, which captures the essence of Psalm 139:23-24. It is a five-step form of the examen you will be using as you proceed through the Exercises.

Give thanks to God for what you have received. This causes you to focus on God and God’s goodness and grace, and on the greatness of God.

Ask God to reveal your sins to you. This may seem moralistic and externally driven, but that is not the case. According to Ignatius’s rules for discernment, the focus is not on the external sin but on the roots from which that weed sprouted. It also affirms that you cannot do this alone but only as God gives insight and illumination.

Examine how you lived this day, looking at your thoughts, words and deeds. During this step you will use the examen questions given in the daily/weekly exercises. This step helps you to discover how you might have missed God today so that tomorrow you will have a better chance of connecting with God and with what God is up to.

Ask forgiveness, expressing sorrow for your sins while recalling to mind God’s love and grace. This provides the opportunity to soak in God’s grace, forgiveness, mercy and love.

Ask God for the grace to amend your ways and more fully live out of a sense of connection with God. In this step you are once again affirming your need for God and dependence on God. You begin to internalize that it is not up to you and your effort, for “apart from [Jesus] you can do nothing” (Jn 15:5).

When the General Examen of Conscience is regularly practiced, it generates an internal spiritual sensitivity to the movements and invitations of God, while fostering a greater awareness of God’s love, grace and forgiveness and your dependency on God. (This prayer can be done in five to fifteen minutes. The key is being totally open and honest with God and yourself.)

As you go through the Exercises, you will be making use of the General Examen of Conscience. The questions you will use for step three of this examen are provided to you weekly and are designed to help you to explore your day in light of the grace you have asked God for and the focus of the meditation time for that particular day. As you go through the Exercises, you will make use of a modified General Examen of Conscience.

Particular Examen of Conscience. The second type of examen prayer, the Particular Examen of Conscience, is highly focused and is meant to be prayed three times throughout the day. You will practice this prayer style in the morning shortly after rising, again right after lunch and the third time after dinner. This prayer’s focus is on a fault or sin over which you desire to gain victory.

In the first prayer time, you ask God for the grace to deal with the fault or sin the coming day. At the examen time following lunch, you ask God for the grace to reveal your shortcomings in the previous period, ask for forgiveness of that fault or sin, and then ask God for the grace to amend your ways. (This follows the structure of the General Examen of Conscience, steps 1 through 5.) You then write down your failures and repeat this process during the examen time after dinner, again writing down your failures.

This entire prayer process is repeated the next day and the next, with charting to compare periods, days and weeks with each other. The charting aspect of this prayer can be overwhelming, but when practiced, it is a helpful aid in discovering trends and formulating plans to better partner with God at times of great difficulty. The Particular Examen of Conscience might be a tool you will find helpful if God brings something to your mind and heart to work on as you journey through the Exercises. However, remember—and this is essential—it is not the outward action that is the real concern, but the internal roots (thoughts, desires and so on) that need to be your focus.

As I have journeyed with individuals through the Exercises, I have found that the examen is the single most important factor in deepening the experience of the Exercises. I have also noticed that this practice, although it takes only a few minutes, is the hardest for those going through the Exercises to do regularly. This is not because it is difficult, but because people tend to forget it.

Journaling

Journaling is part of the DNA of the Exercises, for the Exercises themselves are a by-product of Ignatius’s discipline of journaling. Journaling is strongly encouraged and considered an important component of the Exercises, even though it was not an original element of them. A journal helps preserve this unique journey you are embarking on and may become a treasured possession, a spiritual snapshot of a significant piece of your spiritual journey. Journaling is yet another way to open yourself up to God as you journey through the Exercises.

Morton Kelsey writes, “Without a journal . . . we remain out of touch with large parts of ourselves.” Journaling is an excellent tool for becoming honest with God and yourself. The discipline of journaling helps you

pay attention to God. It is a way of hearing and responding to God.

process what is going on inside. It slows you down enough to notice what is happening within.

listen to and learn about yourself and God, giving direction and insight to live a more authentic life.

understand your unfolding story and discover where God is in that story.

put feelings into words.

develop your thinking and lead to the generation of new thoughts, extending your knowledge in new ways.

record your growth into Christlikeness.

serve as marks on your spiritual wall, recording and denoting growth.

gain perspective, encouragement and hope, and combat desolation.

Journaling tips.

Choosing a journal. There are many styles of journals: bound, loose leaf, spiral, lined, blank, small, large, leather, pressed cardboard, recycled paper—and the list goes on. The important thing is to choose a journal that works for you. I have used many types, but I now use an 8 1/2-by-11 spiral notebook with no lines. The spiral design allows me to fold my journal over; the blank page gives me freedom and plenty of room for artistry; and the size allows me to get into a flow and keep writing without constantly turning pages. There are many people who journal on computers, which I find limiting because I can take my hardcopy journal anywhere and can even glue notes and other things in it. But the choice is yours.

Incorporating creativity. Journal as you can, not as you think you should. Journaling needs to flow out of your creative, free self without restraint, fear or performance anxiety. Seek to approach journaling as a child entering into a time of mystery, a time when you are not sure what will happen yet you are excited about the possibilities. It is best to approach journaling as a dynamic adventure, seeing where it leads you, rather than as a prescribed, static act.

Write as little or as much as you like, but also feel free to draw, paint or make collages. Do not worry about spelling, sentence structure, grammar and the like. Experiment with different ways of journaling: write in crayon with your nondominant hand, write prayers, paraphrase a passage, write a letter to God, write a letter from God, paint, use clay. The possibilities are endless, so give yourself permission to explore and experiment as you journal.

I suggest that, as you journal, you have on hand a box containing colored markers, pencils, crayons, construction paper, a glue stick, a pair of scissors or even watercolors. Sometimes images and colors communicate what words cannot. Also, the use of art can release emotions that are hard for you to get in touch with or communicate. Do not use the excuse that you are not good at art. Instead give it a go, focusing on God’s grace and love rather than on your perceived weakness. See God as your heavenly Parent, who receives your art project with great joy and delight, not because of your skill but because of God’s great love of you and delight in you.

From time to time experiment with colors. Even something as simple as writing a word or phrase that God has brought to mind in big, colored letters can become a powerful expression of what is going on within you. Step out and have fun, not trying to be a great artist but entering into and enjoying the creative process, knowing whatever you end up with is received by God as a precious expression of your heart and thus cherished by God and firmly affixed on the gigantic refrigerator of heaven.

Addressing emotion.