I am the Way, the Truth and the Life… (John 14:6)
AIM:
To use the Examen ( Prayer of Awareness) as a tool to see where and how God has been with me during the winter break and to explore body prayer as a means of prayer.
OUR INTENTIONS:
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To use the Ignatian Examen to notice how God has been working in us through the winter break.
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To introduce the idea of body prayer.
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To enter into the movement and activity of the Gospels and the humanity of Jesus imaginatively.
PROGRAMME:
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Welcome and STILLING/EXAMEN
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Share in Groups
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Break
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Body Prayer Introduction
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Individual Prayer
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Final thoughts
Ask for the grace to see God’s working in the events that have happened over these past few weeks.
Review these weeks in thanksgiving. Walk through the days. What people, places, events, situations have been important for you?
What do you especially want to give thanks for?
Review the feelings that surface as you replay these weeks. Don’t censor those feelings in any way, just notice what arises.
Choose the strongest feeling or feelings and bring that to prayer. Enter into conversation with God. What is God saying to you? How is God looking at you?
Look ahead and ask God for the gifts and graces that you need or desire.
B. Gentle Holy Stretches
If your chair is on wheels…be very careful!
Sit forward a little, moving your back away from the back of your chair.
Feet flat on the floor.
ALWAYS, ONLY DO WHAT FEELS COMFORTABLE:
1. TURNING TO GOD… GOD IS WAITING
Sit upright, feet flat on the floor
Cross your arms, reach for your shoulders
Without moving your hips, turn to the right slowly….and then the left
As you slowly repeat the movement,
Gently feel the stretch…
As you intentionally look for God, the God who is in all things, the God who is all around us
2. OPENING TO GOD
Sit upright, feet flat on the floor
Shoulders back and down
Extend your arms out to the side, palms upwards
Push your chest forwards and up
Gently feel the stretch …
As you open your heart to God
3. REACHING OUT TO EACH OTHER
Sit upright, arms by your sides
Palms facing forward, raise your arms to the side, in line with your shoulders
As you do this, consciously reach out to to each other
Gently stretch out
Opening your heart, making heart connections…
Welcoming and feeling welcomed
4. PRAYER STRETCH
Smiling … we consent to entering into a season of Holy Stretching as we continue our Journey together
Sit upright, feet flat on the floor
Raise your arms above your head
Bring your palms together
Lower your palms until they are at your heart.
THIS IS OUR PRAYER…
Lord, in our season of Holy stretching
We pray that we find Hope, Faith, Peace and Joy…
And as we journey together, in those times that we may feel beset by doubt or uncertainty
We pray that we remember to call on the fellowship and encouragement of our group
And above all … to remember that You are always with us. ALWAYS
AMEN
C. St Julian body prayer
D. Teresa of Avila (1515-1582)
Christ Has No Body
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Born in Spain, Teresa entered a Carmelite convent when she was eighteen, and later earned a reputation as a mystic, reformer, and writer who experienced divine visions. She founded a convent, and wrote the book The Way of Perfection for her nuns. Other important books by her include her Autobiography and The Interior Castle.
Mark 1:40-41
On one occasion, a leper came and threw himself down in front of Jesus, pleading for his healing, saying, “You have the power to heal me right now if only you really want to!” Being deeply moved with tender compassion, Jesus reached out and touched the skin of the leper and told him, “Of course I want you to be healed—so now, be cleansed!”
Luke 8: 42 -48
Jesus started to go with him to his home to see her, but a large crowd surrounded him. In the crowd that day was a woman who had suffered greatly for twelve years from slow bleeding. Even though she had spent all that she had on healers, she was still suffering. Pressing in through the crowd, she came up behind Jesus and touched the tassel[s] of his prayer shawl. Instantly her bleeding stopped and she was healed. Jesus suddenly stopped and said to his disciples, “Someone touched me. Who is it?” Jesus replied, “Yes, I felt power surge through me. Someone touched me to be healed, and they received their healing.” When the woman realized she couldn’t hide any longer, she came and fell trembling at Jesus’ feet. Before the entire crowd she declared, “I was desperate to touch you, Jesus, for I knew if I could just touch even the fringe of your robe I would be healed.” Jesus responded, “Beloved daughter, your faith in me has released your healing. You may go with my peace.”
Luke 8: 50-56
When Jesus heard this, he said, “Jairus, don’t yield to your fear. Have faith in me and she will live again. ”They laughed at him, knowing for certain that she had died. Jesus approached the body, took the girl by her hand, and called out with a loud voice, “My sleeping child, awake! Rise up!” Instantly her spirit returned to her body and she stood up.
Luke 13: 10-13
One Sabbath day, while Jesus was teaching in the synagogue, he encountered a woman. She was crippled and had been doubled over for eighteen years. Her condition was caused by a demonic spirit of bondage that had left her unable to stand up straight.
When Jesus saw her condition, he called her over and gently laid his hands on her. Then he said, “Dear woman, you are free. I release you forever from this crippling spirit.” Instantly she stood straight and tall and overflowed with glorious praise to God!
John 12: 1-7
Mary picked up an alabaster jar filled with nearly a litre of extremely rare and costly perfume—the purest extract of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet. Then she wiped them dry with her long hair. And the fragrance of the costly oil filled the house.
John 9: 6-7
Then Jesus spat on the ground and made some clay with his saliva. Then he anointed the blind man’s eyes with the clay. And he said to the blind man, “Now go and wash the clay from your eyes in the ritual pool of Siloam.” So he went and washed his face and as he came back, he could see for the first time in his life!
Matthew 14:25-31
At about four o’clock in the morning, Jesus came to them, walking on the waves! Peter shouted out, “Lord, if it’s really you, then have me join you on the water!” “Come and join me,” Jesus replied. So Peter stepped out onto the water and began to walk toward Jesus. But when he realized how high the waves were, he became frightened and started to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he cried out. Jesus immediately stretched out his hand and lifted him up and said, “What little faith you have! Why would you let doubt win?”
Chant
Take, O take me as I am
Summon out what I can be
Set me as a seal upon your heart
And live in me (Iona Community)
What do you desire for yourself at this point of the course?
At Home: You may wish to do this ‘creatively’ – using dance, other body movements, art materials, writing of a poem or song, or as a letter to God, or however you are drawn by the chant.
May Your Hidden Self Grow Strong
This is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, from whom every family, whether spiritual or natural, takes its name. Out of his infinite glory, may he give you the power through his Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then, planted in love and built on love, you will with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the length, the height and the depth; until, knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullness of God.
Glory be to him whose power, working in us, can do infinitely more that we can ask or imagine; glory be to him from generation to generation in the Community he gathers and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen. (Eph 3: 14-21)
Tread softly, because you tread on my dreams ..WB Yeats
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When listening to others, accept what you hear with respect. It is this person’s experience… Please try not judge or compare.
• While someone is speaking, really listen, try to enter the speaker’s mind and feelings with sensitivity.
• Avoid problem-solving, rescuing, correcting or giving advice.
• Never interrupt, but save anything you wish to say until the speaker is finished.
• Respond with such phrases as ‘I notice’, ‘I wonder’, ‘I realise’.
• Remember … confidentiality.
John Michael Talbot – “Christ has no Body
Christ Has No Body
Christ has no body now but yours
No hands, no feet on earth, but yours
Yours are the eyes through which
He looks compassion on this world
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good
Yours are the hands with which he bless all the world
Yours are the hand
Yours are the feet
Yours are the eyes
You are His body
Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: John Michael Talbot
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Complete any unfinished parts of our session today.
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Pray with a few more of the suggested Gospel passages (section E) and the Final prayers (section F) using your creativity to pray
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Read through “A Prophet of the Reign of God, Extract from Jesus: An Historical Approximation José A. Pagola (2015), Chapter 4
LINKS FOR SESSION MATERIAL
LINK: S16 PowerPoint Presentation
OTHER USEFUL MATERIAL IN CASE YOU WANT TO EXPLORE MORE ON YOUR OWN
LINK: 10 Ignatian Terms used in GPRL
LINK: 25 Ignatian Terms to know – Ignatian Spirituality The first 5 of the terms are those which we use in the GPRL course
LINK: A simple life-changing prayer More information on the Examen
LINK: Margaret Blackie – Rooted in Love (Glossary) Glossary of words used in Ignatian Spirituality