~ 11 ~

THE FIRST OF THE SIGNS ~
“Do whatever he tells you.”

I prepare my heart for prayer
As I begin, I take a moment to become aware of the Lord present to me,
looking upon me with love, desiring to speak to my heart.

Prayerfully, I read John 2:1-11
After prayerfully reading, I ask for a grace I desire in this time of prayer.

Using my reasoning:

• Think about what is happening in the scene; what are the action words?
• Who are the people in the scene? What is the place? What things are described?
• What words catch my attention? What does this mean to me?

Using my imagination:

• Imagining myself in the scene – am I an observer or participant? To whom am I drawn?
• Using all of my senses – what do I see? What do I hear? What do I feel, smell or taste?

Reflect on what God is saying to my heart:

• As I reflect, I use my spiritual senses to acknowledge what is transpiring in my heart – my thoughts, feelings and desires. (Acknowledge means to see, to notice, to become aware of, to name.)  This is important to do, as my thoughts, feelings and desires shape my actions.

• I look for the truth the Lord is communicating to me. I ask Jesus to give me his mind and his thoughts to see with the eyes of his heart what he wants to reveal to me today. How is Jesus calling me to apply this truth to my life?

Guided Reflection
Quoted from “An Ignatian Introduction to Prayer,”
by Father Timothy M Gallagher, O.M.V¹ 

I am present at the wedding. I see the Mother of Jesus, I see Jesus himself, and the first disciples, the spouses, the crowd, the celebration … I live this whole event, present, watching, listening, contemplating …

This moment is filled with meaning: God, in Jesus, the Word made Flesh, the divine Bridegroom, has come to dwell with, to be wedded to his people …

“They have no wine.” Gradually the wine begins to fail … and Mary sees the unexpressed need. She seems the first to notice. She shows her profound sensitivity to the human situations and unspoken needs around her, even to the small needs of others … alert, attentive …

Am I like her? Do I see the unexpressed needs of the others with whom I live – needs for help, for companionship, a need to share?

Mary does not simply notice. She becomes active in this situation of need. She becomes involved. She brings the need to Jesus, she is engaged to the end, till the need is met.

Do I notice and remain apart? Do I, perhaps too easily, simply assume that I cannot contribute, cannot help?

“O woman, what have you to do with me?” An enigmatic answer, not easy to understand … Yet Mary shows courage, she is sure of Jesus. She does not give up, does not say that she has tried in vain … She persists. She knows her Son …

At times I try to help, to improve things … and my efforts seem to meet no response. Do I give up? Do I say that I’ve tried, but there is no use? Now I ask Mary to speak to me of her courageous and continuing involvement …

I watch Jesus work his first sign, his first miracle … I watch the servants as they fill the jars, the steward of the feast as he tastes the water made wine …

I watch the reaction of the disciples: they see his glory, and faith is born in them …

I ask for this grace in this time of prayer:

Converse with God²

Acknowledge:

• What are the thoughts arising in my heart? I think …
• What are the feelings arising in my heart? I feel …
• What are the desires arising in my heart? I desire …

Relate:

I honestly relate these to God; I talk to him about them, trusting he is present and listening to me, his beloved child.

Receive:

• I listen to what the Lord wants to say to my heart, knowing his love is gratuitous and unconditional. I receive his love and consolation. I trust he longs to console me, to encourage me, to strengthen me, to heal me, to forgive me …

• I allow him to lead me; perhaps returning to the scripture …

Respond:

• I conclude my prayer time speaking to Jesus, God the Father, and/or the Holy Spirit as I would speak to a friend. I may also invoke the intercession of Mary and the Saints.
(St. Ignatius calls this a colloquy.)

Praise him – give glory to God for who he is; for being all good and loving; for being my Lord and savior …

Thank him – for our time together; for his word to me; for the gifts he has given me today …

Ask him – for his help, grace, strength, wisdom, deeper faith …

• Based on what God is saying to my heart, I resolve to act in the following concrete way to love God and love neighbor (which could be something small). Today I will …

Rest in the Lord: Be still and know that I am God
Psalm 46:10

1 Gallagher, T., 2008. An Ignatian Introduction To Prayer: Scriptural Reflections According To The Spiritual Exercises. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company.

2  This way to converse with God in prayer often called ARRR is taught by The Institute for Priestly Formation out of Omaha Nebraska. For more information see Father Traynor, Scott (2013) The Parish as a School of Prayer and Dwyer, Karen and Lawrence (2011) WRAP Yourself in Scripture (IPF Publications).

~ 13 ~

“PUT OUT INTO THE DEEP” ~
“At your word I will let down the nets.”

I prepare my heart for prayer
As I begin, I take a moment to become aware of the Lord present to me,
looking upon me with love, desiring to speak to my heart.

Prayerfully, I read Luke 5:1-11
After prayerfully reading, I ask for a grace I desire in this time of prayer.

Using my reasoning:

• Think about what is happening in the scene; what are the action words?
• Who are the people in the scene? What is the place? What things are described?
• What words catch my attention? What does this mean to me?

Using my imagination:

• Imagining myself in the scene – am I an observer or participant? To whom am I drawn?
• Using all of my senses – what do I see? What do I hear? What do I feel, smell or taste?

Reflect on what God is saying to my heart:

• As I reflect, I use my spiritual senses to acknowledge what is transpiring in my heart – my thoughts, feelings and desires. (Acknowledge means to see, to notice, to become aware of, to name.)  This is important to do, as my thoughts, feelings and desires shape my actions.

• I look for the truth the Lord is communicating to me. I ask Jesus to give me his mind and his thoughts to see with the eyes of his heart what he wants to reveal to me today. How is Jesus calling me to apply this truth to my life?

Guided Reflection
Quoted from “An Ignatian Introduction to Prayer,”
by Father Timothy M Gallagher, O.M.V¹

I am there by the lakeside, in the morning hour. I see Jesus standing by the water, the crowds, the boats drawn up on the shore. The crowds press upon him to hear his teaching. I mingle with them, I listen as Jesus teaches …

“Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land.” I draw near … and now I am present in the boat as Jesus and Peter speak …

I am with Peter, perhaps I feel moved to take Peter’s place … and I hear the Lord say to me, as to Peter: “Put out into the deep.” Put out into the deep! Do not simply continue as you have until now, but put out into the deep in your daily spiritual life, in living your calling …

The first request was not difficult: “he asked him put out a little from the land.” The second is more demanding: “Put out into the deep …” I ask the Lord to show me where he is calling me to put out anew … to go deeper in my calling …

Peter expresses my own sense of helplessness: “We toiled all night and took nothing!” Months, even years of toil, and the same struggles continue …

But now the moment of grace arrives, the moment of faith, the moment of trusting the Lord’s word with courage: “but at your word I will let down the nets.” I ask the Lord to give me new courage, fresh trust in his word … so that I may take that new step …

I see the astounding fruitfulness of this simple act of trust in the Lord’s word, in the Lord’s invitation to “put out” into the “deep”: the useless toil is transformed into an overflowing abundance … the nets are filled to breaking, the boats to their utmost capacity …

My life too can change …

Peter, sensing the closeness of God to him in Jesus, senses also his own sinfulness:
“Depart …” I cannot be this close to the Divine …

Jesus’ answer is immediate: “Do not be afraid.” Do not be afraid … I hear him say these words, again and again, to my heart, to my fear …

And he gives to Peter, gives to me, a sharing in his own mission of salvation: “From now on you will be catching men.”

They leave all, and follow him …

I ask for this grace in this time of prayer:

Converse with God²

Acknowledge:

• What are the thoughts arising in my heart? I think …
• What are the feelings arising in my heart? I feel …
• What are the desires arising in my heart? I desire …

Relate:

I honestly relate these to God; I talk to him about them, trusting he is present and listening to me, his beloved child.

Receive:

• I listen to what the Lord wants to say to my heart, knowing his love is gratuitous and unconditional. I receive his love and consolation. I trust he longs to console me, to encourage me, to strengthen me, to heal me, to forgive me …

• I allow him to lead me; perhaps returning to the scripture …

Respond:

• I conclude my prayer time speaking to Jesus, God the Father, and/or the Holy Spirit as I would speak to a friend. I may also invoke the intercession of Mary and the Saints.
(St. Ignatius calls this a colloquy.)

Praise him – give glory to God for who he is; for being all good and loving; for being my Lord and savior …

Thank him – for our time together; for his word to me; for the gifts he has given me today …

Ask him – for his help, grace, strength, wisdom, deeper faith …

• Based on what God is saying to my heart, I resolve to act in the following concrete way to love God and love neighbor (which could be something small). Today I will …

Rest in the Lord: Be still and know that I am God
Psalm 46:10

1 Gallagher, T., 2008. An Ignatian Introduction To Prayer: Scriptural Reflections According To The Spiritual Exercises. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company.

2 This way to converse with God in prayer often called ARRR is taught by The Institute for Priestly Formation out of Omaha Nebraska. For more information see Father Traynor, Scott (2013) The Parish as a School of Prayer and Dwyer, Karen and Lawrence (2011) WRAP Yourself in Scripture (IPF Publications).

~ 14 ~

THE COURAGE TO TELL JESUS EVERYTHING ~
“Daughter, your faith has made you well.”

I prepare my heart for prayer
As I begin, I take a moment to become aware of the Lord present to me,
looking upon me with love, desiring to speak to my heart.

Prayerfully, I read Mark 5:24-34
After prayerfully reading, I ask for a grace I desire in this time of prayer.

Using my reasoning:

• Think about what is happening in the scene; what are the action words?
• Who are the people in the scene? What is the place? What things are described?
• What words catch my attention? What does this mean to me?

Using my imagination:

• Imagining myself in the scene – am I an observer or participant? To whom am I drawn?
• Using all of my senses – what do I see? What do I hear? What do I feel, smell or taste?

Reflect on what God is saying to my heart:

• As I reflect, I use my spiritual senses to acknowledge what is transpiring in my heart – my thoughts, feelings and desires. (Acknowledge means to see, to notice, to become aware of, to name.)  This is important to do, as my thoughts, feelings and desires shape my actions.

• I look for the truth the Lord is communicating to me. I ask Jesus to give me his mind and his thoughts to see with the eyes of his heart what he wants to reveal to me today. How is Jesus calling me to apply this truth to my life?

Guided Reflection
Quoted from “An Ignatian Introduction to Prayer,”
by Father Timothy M Gallagher, O.M.V¹

I meet this woman. She and I have so much to share: a burden, a need for healing of body, of heart. We have sought healing year after year, made effort upon effort … without effect. The burden remains, it seems even to worsen …

I live with her these endless years of searching for wholeness, for healing … I feel her growing sense of helplessness, her gradual loss of hope … Yet, some small hope remains … and comes alive when she hears of Jesus, and dares to hope that, though him, she may at last find healing.

I watch her, perhaps I take her place, I accompany her, as she comes to the roadside where Jesus is passing. I see the crowds that surround him and hem him in … the movement, the bustle. Now is the chance …

She does not miss the opportunity. She comes close in the crowd. She hopes only for a brief touch of his garments from behind in the crowd. She does touch his garments … and senses that she is healed!

But Jesus wants to give her more. He will not let his “daughter” remain simply an impersonal touch in a crowd. He stops, he asks, “Who touched my garments?”

The disciples cannot understand his question, but he knows, and she knows. … Now this courageous woman responds. She falls on her knees before him, and “in fear and trembling,” tells him “the whole truth.”

I marvel at her courage, her trust, her ability to do what I have so often wished to do: to tell Jesus the whole truth of what stirs in my heart. Have I anything hidden in my heart that now the Lord wishes me to say to him? I pray for the courage, the trust, the openness that I see in this woman …

Now I hear Jesus call her “daughter,” confirming the deep and rich relationship between them … In the silence of my heart, I hear him say this word to me …

“Your faith has made you well; go in peace …” She goes now, her heart in blessed peace … I walk with her

I ask for this grace in this time of prayer:

Converse with God²

Acknowledge:

• What are the thoughts arising in my heart? I think …
• What are the feelings arising in my heart? I feel …
• What are the desires arising in my heart? I desire …

Relate:

I honestly relate these to God; I talk to him about them, trusting he is present and listening to me, his beloved child.

Receive:

• I listen to what the Lord wants to say to my heart, knowing his love is gratuitous and unconditional.  I receive his love and consolation. I trust he longs to console me, to encourage me, to strengthen me, to heal me, to forgive me …

• I allow him to lead me; perhaps returning to the scripture …

Respond:

• I conclude my prayer time speaking to Jesus, God the Father, and/or the Holy Spirit as I would speak to a friend. I may also invoke the intercession of Mary and the Saints.
(St. Ignatius calls this a colloquy.)

Praise him – give glory to God for who he is; for being all good and loving; for being my Lord and savior …

Thank him – for our time together; for his word to me; for the gifts he has given me today …

Ask him – for his help, grace, strength, wisdom, deeper faith …

• Based on what God is saying to my heart, I resolve to act in the following concrete way to love God and love neighbor (which could be something small). Today I will …

Rest in the Lord: Be still and know that I am God
Psalm 46:10

1 Gallagher, T., 2008. An Ignatian Introduction To Prayer: Scriptural Reflections According To The Spiritual Exercises. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company.

2 This way to converse with God in prayer often called ARRR is taught by The Institute for Priestly Formation out of Omaha Nebraska. For more information see Father Traynor, Scott (2013) The Parish as a School of Prayer and Dwyer, Karen and Lawrence (2011) WRAP Yourself in Scripture (IPF Publications).

~ 15 ~

SPEND YOUR LIFE FOR THE GOSPEL ~
“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them …”

I prepare my heart for prayer
As I begin, I take a moment to become aware of the Lord present to me,
looking upon me with love, desiring to speak to my heart.

Prayerfully, I read Matthew 9:35-10:16
After prayerfully reading, I ask for a grace I desire in this time of prayer.

Using my reasoning:

• Think about what is happening in the scene; what are the action words?
• Who are the people in the scene? What is the place? What things are described?
• What words catch my attention? What does this mean to me?

Using my imagination:

• Imagining myself in the scene – am I an observer or participant? To whom am I drawn?
• Using all of my senses – what do I see? What do I hear? What do I feel, smell or taste?

Reflect on what God is saying to my heart:

• As I reflect, I use my spiritual senses to acknowledge what is transpiring in my heart – my thoughts, feelings and desires. (Acknowledge means to see, to notice, to become aware of, to name.)  This is important to do, as my thoughts, feelings and desires shape my actions.

• I look for the truth the Lord is communicating to me. I ask Jesus to give me his mind and his thoughts to see with the eyes of his heart what he wants to reveal to me today. How is Jesus calling me to apply this truth to my life?

Guided Reflection
Quoted from “An Ignatian Introduction to Prayer,”
by Father Timothy M Gallagher, O.M.V¹

I am with Jesus and his disciples as he travels the earthen roads and the villages of Galilee … I see the crowds flocking to him. I am there as he reaches out to them, teaches them, and heals great numbers of them … I live with him the days of his apostolic mission of mercy …

I look upon his face as he raises his eyes to the crowds, as he senses the burden, the hurt, the confusion, the loneliness of this people. They are “like sheep without a shepherd”: no one sees their need, no one heals, no one seems even to notice … This is my world today as well …

I see the deep compassion which stirs in his heart, which moves him to spend his life for them … I ask him for the gift of that same compassion in my heart …

“Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.” Pray therefore … I hear him say these words to me, asking me to dedicate my life, my prayer, for the many today who are “like sheep without a shepherd …”

I watch him call each one of the twelve, by name, to be part of his saving mission … I hear him call my name now … How do I respond?

“He gave them authority over unclean spirits … and to heal every disease …” I sense the power in him over evil and over all human hurt. I ask him now to share that power with me, that my life too may serve to overcome evil, that I too may be a presence of healing … that I may be his apostle in this world …

I look upon each one of these twelve: Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip … I learn about Jesus, and about whom he chooses … I thank him that he has chosen me … I ask him to renew in me the desire to bring him to this world …

I see him send them out on mission … Two by two, they go out, uncertain, fearful, filled with desire, with trust in his power … I go out with them … to spend my life for the Gospel in the calling God has given me.

Now I listen to his words: Go … preach … heal … live simply … I ask him to explain these words to me … to show me, in the light of his call to proclaim him to others, how I am living today, this year, now … I ask him to help me live these words …

I ask for this grace in this time of prayer:

Converse with God²

Acknowledge:

• What are the thoughts arising in my heart? I think …
• What are the feelings arising in my heart? I feel …
• What are the desires arising in my heart? I desire …

Relate:

I honestly relate these to God; I talk to him about them, trusting he is present and listening  to me, his beloved child.

Receive:

• I listen to what the Lord wants to say to my heart, knowing his love is gratuitous and unconditional.  I receive his love and consolation. I trust he longs to console me, to encourage me, to strengthen me, to heal me, to forgive me …

• I allow him to lead me; perhaps returning to the scripture …

Respond:

• I conclude my prayer time speaking to Jesus, God the Father, and/or the Holy Spirit as I would speak to a friend. I may also invoke the intercession of Mary and the Saints.
(St. Ignatius calls this a colloquy.)

Praise him – give glory to God for who he is; for being all good and loving; for being my Lord and savior …

Thank him – for our time together; for his word to me; for the gifts he has given me today …

Ask him – for his help, grace, strength, wisdom, deeper faith …

• Based on what God is saying to my heart, I resolve to act in the following concrete way to love God and love neighbor (which could be something small). Today I will …

Rest in the Lord: Be still and know that I am God
Psalm 46:10

1 Gallagher, T., 2008. An Ignatian Introduction To Prayer: Scriptural Reflections According To The Spiritual Exercises. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company.

2 This way to converse with God in prayer often called ARRR is taught by The Institute for Priestly Formation out of Omaha Nebraska. For more information see Father Traynor, Scott (2013) The Parish as a School of Prayer and Dwyer, Karen and Lawrence (2011) WRAP Yourself in Scripture (IPF Publications).

~ 12~
THE SAMARITAN WOMAN ~
“If you knew the gift of God …”

I prepare my heart for prayer
As I begin, I take a moment to become aware of the Lord present to me,
looking upon me with love, desiring to speak to my heart.

Prayerfully, I read John 4:1-42
After prayerfully reading, I ask for a grace I desire in this time of prayer.

Using my reasoning:

• Think about what is happening in the scene; what are the action words?
• Who are the people in the scene? What is the place? What things are described?
• What words catch my attention? What does this mean to me?

Using my imagination:

• Imagining myself in the scene – am I an observer or participant? To whom am I drawn?
• Using all of my senses – what do I see? What do I hear? What do I feel, smell or taste?

Reflect on what God is saying to my heart:

• As I reflect, I use my spiritual senses to acknowledge what is transpiring in my heart – my thoughts, feelings and desires. (Acknowledge means to see, to notice, to become aware of, to name.)  This is important to do, as my thoughts, feelings and desires shape my actions.

• I look for the truth the Lord is communicating to me. I ask Jesus to give me his mind and his thoughts to see with the eyes of his heart what he wants to reveal to me today. How is Jesus calling me to apply this truth to my life?

Guided Reflection
Quoted from “An Ignatian Introduction to Prayer,”
by Father Timothy M Gallagher, O.M.V¹ 

I am there by the well … I see the dry countryside surrounding the well, the earthen road … I feel the heat of the midday hours …

I see Jesus seated by the well, alone, his weariness revealed in his face as he rests …
I become aware that he is waiting for me, that he has a “gift of God” that he longs to give me today …

I see the woman approach. I see – perhaps I share – her weariness, her burden of repeated failure: five husbands, over and over the same pattern of failure. I feel her sense of helplessness, of burden, of inability to change … With my own sense of helplessness, of inability to grow as I so desire, I stand there, with her, in her place, before Jesus …

He speaks: “Give me a drink.” She does not flee from the conversation that opens so simply … and her life begins to change.

“If you knew the gift of God …” I ask Jesus to help me know the gift that he is offering me even now, as I pray. I ask for eyes that are spiritually open to see this gift … and to embrace it in my life.

I watch, I am in her place, as Jesus, gently, and with great respect for the burdens of her heart, unfolds for her the meaning of her own life, and leads her to grasp the gift he wishes to give her: “living water,” a new freshness in the power of the Spirit.

Desire for this newness wells up in her, in me: “Give me this water, that I may not thirst …”

Now she becomes a witness to Jesus: “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did.” She has found a Heart before which she need keep nothing hidden, before which openness does not wound, but heals …

“Many … from that city believed in him because of the woman’s testimony.” I ask the
Lord that his healing touch in my life make of me too a witness, a channel of his light
for others …

I read this passage slowly, I live this passage …

I ask for this grace in this time of prayer:

Converse with God²

Acknowledge:

• What are the thoughts arising in my heart? I think …
• What are the feelings arising in my heart? I feel …
• What are the desires arising in my heart? I desire …

Relate:

I honestly relate these to God; I talk to him about them, trusting he is present and listening  to me, his beloved child.

Receive:

• I listen to what the Lord wants to say to my heart, knowing his love is gratuitous and unconditional.  I receive his love and consolation. I trust he longs to console me, to encourage me, to strengthen me, to heal me, to forgive me …

• I allow him to lead me; perhaps returning to the scripture …

Respond:

• I conclude my prayer time speaking to Jesus, God the Father, and/or the Holy Spirit as I would speak to a friend. I may also invoke the intercession of Mary and the Saints.
(St. Ignatius calls this a colloquy.)

Praise him – give glory to God for who he is; for being all good and loving; for being my Lord and savior …

Thank him – for our time together; for his word to me; for the gifts he has given me today …

Ask him – for his help, grace, strength, wisdom, deeper faith …

• Based on what God is saying to my heart, I resolve to act in the following concrete way to love God and love neighbor (which could be something small). Today I will …

Rest in the Lord: Be still and know that I am God
Psalm 46:10

1 Gallagher, T., 2008. An Ignatian Introduction To Prayer: Scriptural Reflections According To The Spiritual Exercises. New York: The Crossroad Publishing Company.

2 This way to converse with God in prayer often called ARRR is taught by The Institute for Priestly Formation out of Omaha Nebraska. For more information see Father Traynor, Scott (2013) The Parish as a School of Prayer and Dwyer, Karen and Lawrence (2011) WRAP Yourself in Scripture (IPF Publications).