Ignatian tips 15

Notes: We continue to walk with Jesus, in order to see more Him more clearly, love Him more deeply and follow Him more closely. There is no further need to remind you to say the “introductory prayer” before you begin and throughout the day. Remember also that the final conversation is becoming more and more important as we move into this interior knowledge of Jesus who is strengthening our commitment to life. This is discussed with our “friend” Jesus in our conversation at the end of our prayer and during the day.

Grace: I will ask the Father for three things that I need and that only He can grant: a more intimate knowledge of Jesus who has become one of us; a more personal experience of His love for me so that I may love Him more tenderly; and a closer union with Jesus in His mission of bringing salvation to humankind.

Reflection: After watching Jesus healing, another great image of Jesus to admire is his preaching: He was a real innovator as well as a really free man! Admire the clarity and purity of Jesus’ message, and his courage in proclaiming it, even though he was well aware of the danger he was courting. Jesus maintains his unyielding focus on the justice of God’s kingdom. He accepts no hypocrisy, no double dealing. He rejects legalistic or ritualistic positions that raise the letter of law above its true spirit.

Jesus promulgates his new alliance, his plan for living, his plan of action for how we, his followers, will help restore this world to what God originally planned for how human beings would treat one another. The famed “Sermon on the Mount” or “the Manifesto of the Kingdom” comes early in Jesus’ ministry. We have heard these words before, but do not let its familiarity detract from its radical appeal. Listening reverently to this discourse I allow the seed of Jesus’ word to be implanted in me and to take root. Imagine yourself sitting among the impoverished people who gathered on a hillside to listen to Jesus comprehensively laying out his path, his “Way.” Then as now, his way is highly counterintuitive; he is inviting us to be and to live for values that are exactly the opposite of what contemporary culture and advertising tell us to do. In His time, Jesus was in contradiction to His world.

Scripture Texts:

Matthew 23: 11-12; 23-24. He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Matthew 5: 1-48. Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying…

John 12:44-50. I gear myself up to listen to Jesus, for when I hear His message, I hear the Father.

Closing Conversation: Make a summary of the things I have meditated on during my prayer, talking to Jesus as a friend talks to a friend. Be candid with him about the things I have just found at this time of prayer. If that is how I feel, ask Him to be accepted under His banner. Finish with the Our Father.