Bless our God, who
holds our souls in life, and will not allow our feet to slip. Psalm 66:8
I call with my whole
heart; answer me, O LORD, that I may keep Your statues. Psalm 119:145
I am bound by the vow
I made to you, O God; I will present to You thank-offerings. For You have
rescued my soul from death and my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before
God in the light of the living. Psalm 56:11-12
The LORD has pleasure
in those who fear Him, in those who wait for His gracious favor. Psalm 147:12
And you, little child,
have come from on high to visit us, to give light to those who live in darkness
and the shadow dark as death, and to guide our feet into the way of peace. Luke
1:78-79
What I desire: I desire to do Your will O Lord, I
desire to always do Your will, and I desire to do all of Your will. And when I
do not desire this, give me the grace to do so.
Ignatius’ Principle
23: My only desire and my one choice should be this: I want and I choose
what better leads to God’s deepening life in me.
…the free choice to give up the self produces, as it were,
the free self, the authentic person. But it is a choice that must constantly be
remade in every subsequent choice…this perpetual re-choosing of Christ is the
great paradox and challenge the Christian faith. –Inchausti, Subversive Orthodoxy
Choices. Decisions. Love. Obedience. Faithfulness.
Consequences.
In their original context, the Ignatian Exercises were given
to those who had to make an election, most often for those who were deciding
whether they would pursue the life in the Jesuit society. The Spiritual
Exercises were designed to bring the retreatant to a place of mature
discernment so that the best decision was made.
One idea is that there are times of Boundaries or seasons of
transition, when one phase of life is coming to an end and another is
beginning. Often, what lies ahead is not clearly seen. The Boundary time of
life is always a time of discernment and decision-making.
Ignatius wants all of our choices to be made in light of the
strong desire to always move farther along the road toward my chief end of
loving God and serving His purposes in the world, for the praise of His greater
glory.
Our natural human inclination, when it comes to choices
is–what is in it for me? What do I get out of this? We make our lists of pros
and cons and tally up the columns to see where we can get the best deal.
Ignatius wants to counter that with his First Principle and Foundation and help
me come to the place of indifference where you choose whatever is most
conducive to the purposes and plans of God, and in this way I move toward my
chief end. If that chief end means I must decrease so another can increase,
then that is the way it is and will be. Ignatius wants me to have the Lord’s
Prayer as my heartbeat, “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”
There are times when we make certain core choices which turn
us away from certain pathways and set us on other pathways. Some of these
choices are “defining moment” choices. Still, once made, they must be remade,
rechosen in subsequent choices. If we neglect to continue making daily
“rechoosings” then our earlier defining choice diminishes. There are vital
spiritual choices each person makes that must be remembered, celebrated and
reaffirmed on a regular basis. In this way, we move into the maturity and
fullness of the first choice.
Imagine having a conversation with Christ as He looks into
your eyes and says, “What you prefer is not my will for you. Instead, my will
for you is that you pursue the direction that you are least interested in.” As
you are imagining this conversation, what do you feel as Christ says this to
you? What do you say as you look back at Christ? -Rice
Here I am, I have come…I desire to do Your will, O my God;
your law is written in my heart.
Prayer: Holy Father, creator and sustaining wisdom
of all that is, both in heaven and on earth, take from me those thoughts,
actions and objects that are hurtful. Give me instead those things that are
profitable for me an all who seek rightly to praise you. I ask this grace in
the company of all believers and through the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, who
is, with You and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment