Integrating Discernment in Life and Spiritual Direction Practice
In the book, Eyes To See, Ears To Hear, Lonsdale describes Ignatius’ way of decision making in the Spirit as consolation and desolation. Where the world plays out romantic heroism, success and individualism, as opposed to servanthood, feeding the poor and coming together in community. Spiritual blindness encumbers those who are willing to serve God, and at best, Christian life seems as though it is about making good choices, possible like other great Christians. However, Ignatius’ exercise of discernment allow freedom to see and hear the movement of the Spirit in deep places in our own stirring relationship with God.
Ignatius was influenced at an early age to be a hero with sword, a dream of fighting to win. He was a vain, hot headed soldier, and when he became wounded in the Spanish army fighting in Pamplona against the French, he wanted to look good in his tights and then he succumbs to operations to make his shattered leg look good and he thought this would impress the women.
Ignatius reminds me of Paul who murdered Christians and became change. Although Ignatius was not changed instantly, he was similar in situation as that he killed and fought to win a battle, then saw Jesus and drew near to Him. Or similar to Peter who cut off the ear of Malchus, the high Priest’s servant, ready to go to battle and save.
During this time of healing, Ignatius read two books, The Life of the Saints and The Life of Christ, which opened his spirit to the Spirit of God. He dreamed of heroism, the favor of a beautiful women and found that it brought him into depression or desolation, and the books about saints and contemplating Jesus his heart is engaged and this leaves Ignat...
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...hour, day or situation on what is life-giving and what is life-threatening and sitting lightly to all that happens, ready to let go of what is not or no longer.
I particularly like silf’s principal on letting the best in me decide. The core of me would like to choose the best, and when I find place my best of me on one side and place the worst of me on the other side of a scale. I may make my choice and see where the choice is found on the scale. I am able to pray through this and modify my choice changing the scale toward the best of me. This is a process that I have practiced using writing. I write out what I want to say and rewrite what I want to say to make the words the best of me. As I am transformed into becoming more and more like Jesus I find that this exercise has given me a prayerful process of contemplation when situations arise that feel complex.
A deeply pious man, John considers the Bible a sublime source of moral code, guiding him through the challenges of his life. He proclaims to his kid son, for whom he has written this spiritual memoir, that the “Body of Christ, broken for you. Blood of Christ, shed for you” (81). While John manages to stay strong in the faith and nurture a healthy relationship with his son, his relationship with his own father did not follow the same blueprint. John’s father, also named John Ames, was a preacher and had a powerful effect on John’s upbringing. When John was a child, Father was a man of faith. He executed his role of spiritual advisor and father to John for most of his upbringing, but a shift in perspective disrupted that short-lived harmony. Father was always a man who longed for equanimity and peace. This longing was displayed in his dealings with his other son, Edward: the Prodigal son of their family unit, a man who fell away from faith while at school in Germany. John always felt that he “was the good son, so to speak, the one who never left his father's house” (238). Father always watched over John, examining for any sign of heterodoxy. He argued with John as if John were Edward, as if he were trying to get Edward back into the community. Eventually, John’s father's faith begins to falter. He reads the scholarly books
Revelations of Divine Love is a 14th century masterpiece written by Julian of Norwich. This book is an account of St. Julian’s sixteen different mystical revelations in which she had encountered at a time of great suffering and illness. St. Julian focussed on the many “mysteries of Christianity.” Through her many revelations she encountered God’s vast love, the existence of evil, God’s heart for creation, the father and mother-heart of God, and the need to obey her Father in Heaven. Amongst these revelations the most powerful was the revelation of God’s love and character. Revelations of Divine Love is a wonderful source of revelation to connect a reader to the Father.
In spite of the fear which propels him, there is finally hope for Ignatius. Waddling fearfully into the world, he can now learn to accept his common fate with the rest of humanity--his own humanness and inherent vulnerability in a world over which he has no control. In her frustration and resignation, Ignatius' little mother, an unusual Earth Mother at best, once sadly and plaintively tells her son, "You learnt everything, Ignatius, except how to be a human being" (375). Therein lies a lesson for us all.
Bacchus, Francis Joseph. “St. Paul the Hermit.” The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 11. New York. Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 5 Apr. 2014
In chapter two, ‘Francis and His Companions,’ Cunningham exposes the considerable growth in Francis of Assisi’s influence, as he recounts his companions that joined him after deciding to live his life. The chapter is significant because it exposes how Francis of Assisi’s gospel is different from the orthodox Catholic practices, which recognized the pope, as the sole Vicar of Christ. (Cunningham 32). This chapter is important in my life because it reinforces my conviction God is the almighty and all-powerful, and all people regardless of the status of the needed to worship
A Biopsychosocial spiritual assessment (BPSS) is vital to use when providing a framework for the client’s presenting problems. It serves as a guide to help Social Workers determine how the client’s biological, psychological, social, and spiritual dimensions affect their overall functioning. The BPSS assessment allows the Social Worker to view the client holistically, examine barriers that prevent the client from receiving proper treatment, and the ways the client’s interacting systems have an impact in their life. For the purpose of this paper, I will complete a biopsychosocial assessment based on the information my client has disclosed to me and implement strategies necessary to achieve his treatment goals.
He was at one point motivated by many good things like as virtue and honor, so much so that he wanted a companion to share in his happy life. “When I first sought it [sympathy], it was the love of virtue, the feelings of happiness and affec...
St. Francis of Assisi was born in Umbria in the year 1182. He was a child every father hoped for, he was filled with life, a determined and courageous individual. He was gifted with rather good looks, qualities that attracted friends and a gift of leadership. His father was an extremely wealthy merchant in Assisi. But this son, his favourite, was the one who broke Peter Bernardone’s heart. The boy turned on his father, and in a vicious event that eventually resulted into a public scene. St. Francis of Assisi stepped away from his father, his business and left his father in a state of immense emotional suffering.
Through this course I have come to learn that my personal tendencies are ones that have not been learned but that they are ones that have been placed within me by Him. By His Grace, He has made each of us unique and He has placed us in this world to work together without sin and without mal intent. Just as I have faith in Him, I cannot be a good leader for my team and employees if I do not have trust and faith that the organization strives to support a positive and healthy culture. Dr. Fischer’s (2006) insight into human nature and our natural tendency to sin is insightful to me. His article encourages me to continue to believe in God’s plan and to continue to develop my faith in God that, through Him, He will help to fight the negative influences and sins that exist in the world
The book, Revolution of Character: Discovering Christ's Pattern for Spiritual Transformation by Dallas Willard, considers a development of spiritual formation is not self-taught enough through Christ Jesus’ doctrine about spiritual formation of the body, mind, soul, and heart. As a Christian, one of the hard things we face on earth in life is why our body and heart being examined by God’s Holy Spirit, and his work inside our lives. If we understanding more about our flesh, our lust, and our temptation of this world, then we will could be in better places to understanding the body, mind, and soul more better through God’s unchanging hands of the Holy Spirit. The powerful work of his unchanging hands is the
Confessions takes readers through Saint Augustine’s spiritual wandering prior to becoming a virtuous and highly influential bishop in the Catholic Church. The early stages of the book have Augustine reflecting on his childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood – parts of his life where he feels that he is dangerously far away from God. “At one time in adolescence I was burning to find satisfaction from hellish pleasures. I ran wild in the shadowy jungle of erotic adventures. ‘My beauty wasted away and in your sight I became putrid’,” displays how Augustine’s focus on worldly things
The Late Middle Ages saw great theological discrepancies through the progression of Christian mysticism. The exploration into spiritual practices and the unification of the soul during this period led to great philosophical works. The Cloud of Unknowing and The Imitation of Christ are two noteworthy texts that discuss one’s aspiration to attain union with God. The Cloud of Unknowing is an anonymously authored spiritual exercise that accentuates movement toward the contemplative life by acknowledging what is unknown by man. In contrast, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis is a spiritual guide which emphasizes that the way to be fully Christian is to live in the imitation of Jesus Christ. While many of the thoughts concerning human reason and withdrawal from the corporal world are similar in the texts, the two are inherently different as the account in The Imitation of Christ is more compelling due to its focus on a humanistic objective while acquiring union and salvation with God.
While working professionally and when dealing with family, there have been times when I have felt someone speaking through me. It was like having an out of body experience, listening to and watching myself offer direction and advice. Like Max said, he could tell when he was on course with God and when he was not. As hard as I try to keep pace with what God wants me to do, sometimes it gets hard. My daily dealings with people, not like I have another choice, will sometimes test my patience and I end up saying something I wish I had just phrased a different way. Especially when it comes
...s that we shouldnâˆ(tm)t dwell on the fact that we are going to die, but instead, ∜..fill your belly with good things; day and night, night and day, dance and be merry, feast and rejoice. Let your clothes be fresh, bathe yourself in water, cherish the little child that holds your hand, and make your wife happy in your embrace; for this too is the lot of man.âˆ
In the first week of the Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius gives rules for discernment. Spiritual desolation is an experience of trail to remain firm and faithful. Gallagher says, “Persons in spiritual desolation, who consider this truth while they are enduring the desolation, find themselves crossing a spiritual threshold.” The aim of the first week and through the aid of these rules, the person is called to conversion of the heart from a worldly and mediocre life. Desolation, in simple terms, implies as the work of the evil spirit. It happens in the prayer life of people that they can feel that the Lord has abandoned them. Frustration and discouragement strike them in such moments. They don’t find any meaning in the perseverance.