St. Ignatius of Loyola was a Jesuit priest during 1500s the that developed the Spiritual Exercises. The Spiritual Exercises is a series of rules that is intended to be a guide or manual for those on a retreat. The manual provides its audience with guidance and encouragement to discover their purpose, their "True Self" and path in which they want to travel in life. St. Ignatius's goal for his set of prayers, Spiritual Exercises, is to freely choose to follow God and to serve Him. The purpose of the Spiritual Exercises is to self-reflect and discover our goal and purpose in life. The Spiritual Exercises gives us to ability to apply our understanding to everyday decisions and to know the right decisions for ourselves, God, Catholicism, and faith. St. Ignatius emphasizes the interior individual freedom that we have received from the death and Resurrection of Christ This freedom of choosing decisions gives an individual freedom. He uses the four weeks of spiritual exercises to prepare us and help us recognize our purpose in life. St. Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises are a guide to find our reason in life through a four week plan of spirituality. Each week has a set goal to that helps us reflect on our lives and experiences. The spiritual exercises help us come to recognize the significance of Jesus' life, death, and Resurrection. It allows us to become closer to Christ, embrace and celebrate His life and passion, grow live faithfully in His words. The goal of the first week is "to reform what is deformed in the soul" (IVE). St. Ignatius discusses the important of examining the soul three times a day: the first in the morning after waking up, the second after dinner, and the third at the hour of Vespers. This self examination helps o... ... middle of paper ... ...h we should follow and recognize our purpose of life: to serve God. Christ gave us spiritual freedom through His death and Resurrection in hope that we use this freedom to willingly choose to follow Christ. We are each created for a purpose and an end. We are given the true freedom to make this decision of which path we will trail down in life: Christ's path or Satan's path. St. Ignatius's book of Spiritual Exercises helps us make this decision in life. By using this guide or spirituality, we are given the ability to fully reflect on our inner self and to discover our potential and purpose on this earth. The spiritual exercises leads us on a journey to find our "True Self" in trust that we develop an awareness and ability to recognize God in all living things. In our end, we will join God and Christ in the Kingdom of Heaven and celebrate in the enjoyment of God.
With evaluating Ignatius of Loyola lacks having many strengths with the utmost good intentions for success and the greater good of the people around him. The start of is struggle for greatness is the flaw to want a “great name” (Ignatius, Autobiography I, 20) versus the want of greatness for the people around him. This stray can be demonstrated from the start in his military life as he sought the “enthralled by the vanities of the world” (Ignatius, Autobiography I, 20) and glory by risking the lives of others at the citadel of Pampeluna. When looking at hi...
God gave us our life to fulfill a purpose. People may drift away from their purpose, but one may not drift too far away to lose their soul. Our soul represents our deepest self, our reason to live. When we get off track on fulfilling our purpose God has to step in and intervene.
This purpose is accomplished through the liturgical year by slowly, correctly, and thoroughly teaching us about Jesus’ life through the gospels.
Following God’s calling and promise, all of you began a very special and long journey. By coming to seminary, you chose a life to be remembered by God, not by people. Our busy work and engagement in theological study in the seminary are part of our spiritual journey with God. The opportunity to study, research, writing and worshiping in the seminary must be seen as part of spiritual practices of listening to God, of being righteous, to be God-fearing. Karl Barth, Swiss theologian says, “Theological work can be done only in the inseparable unity of prayer and study. Prayer without study would be empty. Study without prayer would be
The Rosary is an ancient prayer narrating the entire story of Salvation. The whole Rosary is composed of twenty decades that can be split over four days of five decades. Each decade is divided by sets of Mysteries: Joyful, Luminous, Sorrowful, Glorious (please see appendix for a complete and detailed example). After the beautiful experience of the Liturgy of the hours, which is now become part of my daily life for the three major hours, I want to discover the deeper meaning of my habit to pray the Rosary. I am part of an international group of Catholics committed to pray five decades of the Holy Rosary every day for World’s Peace. We pray Joyful Mysteries on Mondays and Saturdays, Luminous Mysteries
Independently, as one grows in age, their actions should make a daily reflection to God. In “A Theology of Liberation,” Gutierrez avers that, "The present life is considered to be a test: one’s actions are judged and assessed in relation to the transcendent end. The perspective here is moralistic, and the spirituality is one of flight from this world...
The first discipline Foster gives us is in the Inward Disciplines which helps improves our spiritual life. This discipline is also broken down into four parts which are meditation, prayer, fasting, and study. meditation helps us get closer to God by listening. Also, daily meditation is overcome the obstacles of life. The next discipline is prayer. Prayer is our communion with God, just as meditation is our way of listening. Fasting is the next inward discipline. Fasting is for “Spiritual purposes” (Foster
An initially reluctant nun who became one of the few female “doctors of the Church,” St. Teresa of Avila lived in Spain from 1515-1582. Fanciful and charismatic, Teresa first ended up in the convent at age 16 as a result of her strict father’s attempt to reign in her imagination and flirtations. This convent, however, had become the refuge of many women with no place else to go, and accordingly was not the ideal environment for spiritual development. Only after years of serious illness during which Teresa hardly prayed at all did Teresa, at the recommendation of a priest, return in earnest to prayer. Her persistence through the challenges of developing her practice of mental prayer is recorded in her writings that have become founts of spiritual wisdom that draw countless others into relationship with God.
I often hear people talk about their purpose in life. The big questions: “What am I doing with my life?” and “why am I here?” seem to echo around me as a constant symphony. Although I still find myself pondering these questions, I know the answer. The answer came on a mission trip to Mexico. It had been a long day, and that evening we all came together in one of the larger rooms; it was simply decorated, but that night I actually took notice. A map took up most of the wall and was shaded red in the areas that had been unreached by Christianity. I was shocked to see how much of the world was red. My eye was then drawn to the verse painted next to the map: “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation” (Mark 16:15). Something happened inside of me at that moment – I knew what I needed to do – I had a purpose. I was twelve years old
This spiritual journey begins when I came of age, the beginning of 9th grade, and I never realized how much it changes life. My heart pounded at the thought of becoming an adult in the Catholic community. Increased spiritual life, better faith in God and his plan for us, and a chance to do more good for people, all
The answer is very simple; God wants us to reign with Christ and for His Glory. The bible says we are the Kingdom Part-takers this means that as Christ Reigns over the Earth from Heaven, so should we reign here in the earth. Every one of us has been created for a purpose. This might sound like a repetition but this is the point for this book. It is for us to discover the reason and the purpose for our lives. With God we cannot loose, we have to always win because He says so. As the rain falls down and waters plants so does His words on our lives. Every word spoken by God about our lives will come to pass the quicker we discover this the quicker it will
My journey through this course has greatly influenced my perception on faith. As I mentioned in the beginning of this course, I grew up practicing the Catholic faith. I was baptized, received Communion, and was Confirmed in the Catholic Church. Growing up, I never thought my perception of faith would change. I was raised a Catholic, attended Catholic school my whole life, and attended Church every Sunday. The Catholic teachings and traditions were practiced in my family for years before I was born, but this course has opened my mind to many different ideas and beliefs. Some beliefs that have influenced my thinking are Monasticism and Inclusivism. Given that religion is a very personal aspect of my life, I decided to analyze what I’ve learned during this course in depth.
Everybody has a purpose, most people’s purposes are not obvious, but everybody affects the world around them whether they like it or not. The reason we were created is to honor God. Sometimes a person’s purpose is to be an example to someone, to lead others to God, or to provide a way for others to fulfill their purpose. Everyone’s purpose helps glorify
In order for us to become more fully human, and move along on our road to our
I admire both St. Augustine and Bridgid of Kildare greatly. They began a new way of religious life by providing a peaceful place where anyone could come to rest and reflect no matter what their station in life. In our busy society we rarely have time to sit down, clear our minds, and meditate on what is important to us. Somehow our modern society is unable to combine work, pleasure, and prayer. St. Augustine and Bridgid of Kildare founded several monasteries where the above three things were woven into each day. There were times for tending the fields, giving thanks to God, and relaxing. However, personal reflection has fallen by the wayside in today's cultured. Many people have forgotten about the fulfillment that solitude and prayer can bring to one's life. This is even true in my own life. I am so consumed with social activities, schoolwork, extra curricular activities, etc that I forget to stop and take the time to be present with God and my thoughts. I think that I would be a better person and Christian if I just took ten minutes out of my day to pray, meditate, or write in my journal. Spirituality is something that I have lost, but through the examples set by St. Augustine and Bridgid ...