If you’ve read my previous posts, you may have guessed that one of my favorite saints is Ignatius of Loyola, the great founder of the Society of Jesus (also known as the Jesuits). Ignatius was born in Spain in 1491. He was a soldier in the Spanish army before he experienced a profound conversion to Christ at the age of 30. During a battle against the French at Pamplona, Ignatius’s leg was broken by a cannonball, an injury that left him with a limp for the rest of his life. As he recuperated in his bed at home, he began to read the Life of Christ and the Lives of the Saints. As he read, he noticed something happening in his heart: he felt drawn to Christ and he desired to imitate the saints about whom he was reading. This time of recuperation was a defining moment in his life, and from that point on he devoted his life to Christ and to spreading the fire of God’s love to all people he encountered. One of the great methods of prayer that Ignatius proposed for spiritual growth was the daily examen. In fact, still today, priests in the Society of Jesus are asked to set aside fifteen minutes twice a day in order to pray the examen.
Showing up for Prayer
Woody Allen once said something to the effect that eighty percent of success in life is simply about showing up. We can say something similar about prayer. If we desire a fruitful prayer life, then we must show up for it everyday. What do I mean? In my previous posts I wrote about the Examen Prayer, a time set aside to reflect on God’s love and our response to it in our daily lives. But how does one begin to pray the Examen? How does one begin to pray at all? The first step to prayer is simply showing up and acknowledging God’s loving presence. St. Ignatius called this first step the time of “transition.” Once again, I direct you to Fr. Gallagher’s excellent book that I referenced in my last post.
Emotions and the Spiritual Life
Emotions are like the tide: they change every day. We must be careful then not to base our spiritual lives on our emotions. We must also take care not to base our decisions upon our feelings. Every day we can experience both positive and negative emotions, and we can allow both types of emotions to affect our relationship with the Lord. For example, if we are peaceful during the day, we can allow it to lead us more deeply into the Lord’s presence and experience spiritual consolation; however, if we are angry we may choose to distance ourselves from Him thus choosing spiritual desolation. The challenge for us is to live on a deeper spiritual level than our emotions. The good news is that there is a prayerful way to get to that level and to be more discerning about how our emotions affect our spiritual life.
Calm in the Midst of the Storm
“Stop this train. I want to get off and go home again. I can’t take the speed it’s moving in. I know I can’t; but honestly won’t someone stop this train.” -John Mayer We often miss the gift of life because we live at a speed that is just too fast. Our American way of life is just too fast. Few of us are exempt from the busy, fast-paced life—priests included. The demands of job and family life can be overwhelming for the laity; the demands of ministry can be overwhelming for priests and religious. But so many of us believe the lie that if we’re not busy, then we’re not effective; and as we get caught in the maelstrom of our busyness, we experience emotional and spiritual pain. I’ve reflected on this reality of the busy, fast-paced life for a while and I’ve come to see that it’s not so much about being too busy that causes our pain; it’s really about not being rooted.