Deepening Your Faith: Prayer and Contemplation
The Love of God and the Christian Life
“We believe in the love of God: in these words, the Christian can express the fundamental decision of his life. Being Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives new horizon to life and a decisive direction.”
(Benedict XVI, God is Love, 1)
In this second stage (second week), which is the largest, the exerciser should be able to read any Christology. We suggest, among others, the following:
- Carlos Mesters, With Jesus on the Opposite Side… in Defense of Life.
- Jose L. Caravias, The God of Jesus.
- Albert Nolan, Jesus Before Christianity, “Who is this Man?”
- José Antonio Pagola, Jesus: A Historical Approach
- Albert Nolan, Jesus Today: A Spirituality of Radical Freedom.
You can download these from:
Also, during these months, it would be good to calmly watch some modern films about Christ, such as:
- The Nativity Story, Hardwicke, 2006, 101′
- Jesus of Nazareth, Zeffirelli, with Robert Powell, 1977, 400′
- Jesus, The True Story, Young, RAI, with Jeremy Sisto, 1999, 173′
- The Gospel of John, Saville, Canada 2003, 120′
- Gospel of Matthew, Van den Bergh, 1997, 265′
- Jesus of Montreal, Denys Arcand, 1989, 114′
- The Man Who Performed Miracles, Sokolov, 1999, 90′
Different Types of Prayer
Contemplations of the Life of Jesus (101-117)
In the second stage, a new form of prayer is introduced: contemplation. The meditations of the first stage were the work of the intelligence that receives, crumbles, and feeds like wisdom. Contemplations now proposed involve a new degree of internalization. Because Wisdom became incarnate, his Incarnation makes possible a new kind of contemplation. It is a presence among people, a change of heart, a mutual exchange. Through contemplation, the person of Christ joins me, giving me your Spirit so that I may understand and fulfill the will of the Father.
To make this deepening possible, each person must find their own way of praying, one in which, from their reality, the Spirit is communicated to them.
First Step: See the People
Read a couple of times the Gospel passage that you will contemplate and see the person of Jesus and those around him. Look at their faces, how old they are, their clothes, hands, home, or location, as if you were present at the scene. Then compare it all with who you are and what surrounds you at this present time, people, places… Look closely to notice the differences and similarities.
Second Step: Hear What They Say
Listen to the words that are written in the Gospel. Think of other words that might have been said. Listen to the voice that expressed the feelings of their hearts. Listen with more attention to what Jesus says, and the emotion of his voice will reach their heart’s feelings. Then compare it all with what you speak and hear around you, and note the differences and similarities.
Third Step: Look at What They Do
Notice what Jesus does and those around him. Works are the fruit of what we feel and live in our hearts. Compare it to what you do and see around you today.
Look more particularly at what Jesus experiences: joy, hope, hunger, cold, heat, scorn, persecution…
Fourth Step: Dialogue of Friends
As you make comparisons between what you see, hear, and view in the Gospel, what you say and do, and others say and do around you, you will have feelings that can be very varied. From these experiences, make your dialogue with Jesus, Mary, Joseph, the apostles, the sick, the poor… so that every time you have a more intimate relationship with Jesus.
Saint Ignatius recommended finishing by slowly praying the Lord’s Prayer or some other prayer…
When finished, write down briefly what impressed you most and do a little test of how it went to improve your way of contemplating the life of Jesus.
Contemplation of Words (249-257)
In days of distraction, fatigue, or distress, it may be better to use easier methods of prayer. One of them is this.
Before seeking calm, perhaps taking a few steps. Breathe deeply. Find a body position that helps you… Hold your imagination with a figure of Christ or the Virgin…, ensuring that your eyes do not go from side to side.
Make a prayer going to the person with whom you will talk and ask them to help you be honest in acknowledging who you are and what you do to be more open and to improve your life [240).
Start reading the text that you want to pray, and consider each word or phrase as long as you find meanings, comparisons, taste, and comfort. When a word or phrase interests you, do not move on to another. Continue in this way to finish the text or a specific time for prayer.
If a word or phrase provides much food for thought and pleasure, do not worry about moving on, but instead, stay in it all the time.
Always end with a spontaneous dialogue as you have experienced during prayer. And if you can, at the end, write briefly what you liked and examine yourself on how it went.
Prayer to the Rhythm of Breath (258-260)
In days or times of unbearable activity, you can mentally say, to the rhythm of your breath, each word of the Lord’s Prayer or any known prayer, so as to say one word for each breath. Between breaths, reflect on what the word says, or the person it is said to, or myself who is saying it, or compare myself with him to whom I speak, and so on, word for word.
Also, this method can repeat the phrase or phrases that have come to me in the meditations and contemplations of the Exercises.
There are people who do this kind of prayer when traveling by bus or going alone in the car… The important thing is that no day passes, however dark it may be, without at least a moment of prayer.