Ignatian Spirituality by Mary Maume, Assistant Pastoral Coordinator in Clongowes

"The Longest Journey in Life is the Journey Inward"

How has Ignatian Spirituality been applied in my life at this point and
how can it help young people find meaning in their lives?

The Question:
When the practice of prayer that I inherited from my parents or from school did not seem to meet my needs; when I was not making many connections between the gospel stories and the lived experience; when life appeared to be going well, but I still felt an unease and a restlessness, it was time to look at another way. Was it the language that was not making sense or was it the method? Was it that I was not making connections between the thoughts and feeling and experiences that I had with the living Jesus as he struggled with his particular life situation?

It was not about a lack of readiness for faith to deepen, but about finding a method that incorporates all of who we are: the good, the bad and the ugly. In times of stress we are inclined to revert to an inherited way of praying, a way for me which was trying to contact a distant God, rather than a God who became human. In this relating there tended to be a fear to take on board all the reactions that one could have: the anger, the resentment etc. as if they were wrong.

Ignatian Way

With the Ignatian way, all the reactions good or bad were acceptable and could be incorporated into a way of praying that helped me towards greater integration. As Roland Roltheiser said about Spirituality : it is ultimately about what we do with our desires; what we do with the longing , both in terms of handling the pain and the hope they bring us , is our spirituality." This put Ignatian Spirituality in context for me.

What is Ignatian Spirituality

There is a deliberateness about Ignatian spirituality that struck me from the beginning. It was about noticing what was happening in our lives; It was about exploring a spirituality that works for you personally and makes sense of your personal journey. Where can we see a glimmer of light in the pain and suffering of our lives? In the interaction with someone, what have I learned about my own stubbornness or blindness? It is about recognising or being sensitive to what occurs in our lives on a daily basis. It is more about not drifting with the tide of resignation about what life has given us, but actively creating constructive change.

What I observed:

Through dialogue with people who pray daily, who lead good lives but are not at peace within themselves, either in their occupations, or in their family relationships; who are bitter or resentful because of lost opportunities, I felt that there was a missing link in our understanding of the message of Jesus: "I have come that you may have life and have it to the full." John 10:10. Ignatius points to Jesus and endeavours to deepen the relationship with the person of Jesus, so that people are brought into an intimate knowledge of the man who walked the earth. So not only the intellect and will was used but the creative use of the imagination and the feelings to get in touch with real flesh and real blood: someone who felt joy, pain and anxiety as he faced opposition. To be able to create the scene and journey with the person of Jesus helped me to connect the human and the spiritual. Composition of Place or in other words recalling a scene from scripture and being fully present in it, using the senses as far as possible was a way of praying I was unaware of. In Luke 24 Verse 36 and onwards, trying to visualise the scene as Jesus appeared to the Eleven, who were agitated and unsure and recalling what he said: "See my hands and my feet that it is myself; Touch me and see for yourself; a ghost has no flesh and bones as you can see I have", was a revelation.
The point of having your own picture -whatever image that arises in the imagination when you have placed yourself in a receptive mode, will belong to your particular relationship with Jesus.

Examen:

When we put time aside to reflect over our daily life and notice what is happening we call it the examination of consciousness or the Examen.
How was I doing as person in my day to day interaction with my family, with my colleagues? So the value of the Examen of St. Ignatius helped me to look at my day and see the choices made that day; see movements within the day, how was I affected by the various interactions with people: did I see a bigger plan amidst the turmoil? Can we find God in all the murky experiences of the day, so what can be learned form all the meeting points during the day? Can we find God in all things as Ignatius sought to do?

S o if God wishes to be found here we have to look at ourselves and all those with whom we interact on a daily basis: it throws light on what was good and what was draining. It also looks at more subtle things that we would easily dismiss: a kind word from someone when the going is rough, a student willing to help even though it does not suit him or her. I could glean moments of joy and value perhaps in small insignificant events. Being grateful for the gifts in my life can easily be overlooked and asking God to enlighten me on what he is asking of me was a completely new departure.

In the Fifth Year Prayer Group

I did the Examen with a small group of fifth year students. After getting through their initial resistance, they were happy to recognise the friendship of others; how they felt when they were negative: e.g. When they were unwilling to entertain someone who was feeling low. It was useful for them to sit and recall the times when they dismissed people. They would have rationalised what they did as necessary: e.g. this was their personal time. On reflection, they were aware that what was required was an ability to respond to the moment and be with some one who was not coping well. It created awareness of how Jesus would respond to a friend in need. It was about sensitive listening and It also helped them to feel sorrow for their shortcoming. With boys I felt it was great way for them to talk about how they felt, how others felt because they were dismissive of them, how preoccupied they can get. It helped them to focus on making small changes in their attitudes to their peers.
It also enabled them to put the day to rest, using their own words to connect to the person of Jesus. What would Jesus have done in the circumstance? How would he have felt? Could they find it in their hearts to forgive and to be grateful for all the gifts they have received.? What guidance do they require to face a new day?

Discernment in making decisions:

With the plurality of approach to the Ignatian model it is ideally suited to the life of lay people who are struggling to make sense of their lives amidst the pull of consumer culture and this is very obvious with young people. When a few of the students in the prayer Group spoke about the expectations of the consumer society: the important job, the car, the beautiful partner; to have made it,as they would say. We spoke in the prayer Group about coming back to the school ten years from now, having been successful according to the criteria laid down by the culture, with the beautiful partner on their arm. One student remarked: 'I don't know if I'm really happy.' On the outside it all looks good and I can even visualise a beautiful girl, but I am really pleasing my peers. We spoke about values and what it would feel like to have a peace inside born from doing a job in which you felt you were making a difference; that you felt your decision was on a deeper reflection of who you were called to be. What would the person of Jesus say to both situations? How does it really feel in the heart? They found a terrible struggle to remove themselves from the expectations of the world. They said that they tended to remain with what was predictable for them ; where they knew they would be successful as determined by parents, friends and the culture.

Their conclusion was that it was challenging to evaluate both options, rather than be lured in one direction.

Kairos:
We run the Kairos Retreat each year, which is a peer ministry retreat for fifth years, given by sixth year students. It is an experience of Christian Community with a series of talks given both by peers and adults. It's about young people evalgelising young people and coming to grips with the social context in which they are living. The peers compliment the adult retreat team by sharing their own personal history and Christian beliefs. The programme lasts for three and a half days with the challenge to meet fairly regularly to integrate the retreat into their own daily life. "Love is shown more in deeds than in words."

Day I looks at who am I, what is the purpose of my life and how might I find fulfillment within that purpose? It is modelled in part on The Principle and Foundation of St. Ignatius.

Day 2 who is Jesus in my life? Can I answer the call of Jesus?

Day 3 Christ's message for me. Learning bout our potential and endeavouring to appreciate the help we receive from God in achieving our potential.

Day 4. Living the message. In our day to day lives, in our relationships with family, school friends, in pour relationship with God.

Effects of Kairos:

Both the adults and student leaders felt that they gleaned a lot about themselves and their faith, when preparing the talks and had to deal with different emotions. The preparation was a major growth period for them.

The retreatants felt that the experience was an intense one, but a very valuable one, resulting in a closer bond with one another and a greater awareness of the other's needs, and a greater sensitivity to their parents. Several students who have experienced Kairos have offered to lead Advent and Lenten Night Prayer and have done so very successfully.

Finding God in all things

Ignatian Spirituality asks us to find God in all creation, experiencing God in the beauty of nature, in the disabled whom we work with every week, (whom I will discuss later) in the lines of poetry that's transformative for us. What dimension of me was awakened in my reading of the poem e.g. Canal Bank Walk by Patrick Kavanagh? "Leafy-with-love-banks and the green waters of the canal
Pouring redemption for me, that I do
The will of God, wallow in the habitual, the banal,
Grow with nature again as before I grew."
As creatures we are in awe of our creator because of the indescribable beauty he has given us to enrich the experiences of our lives. It is given so that we may grow in greater union with God, rather than grow separate from the creator.

Previous to being aware of Ignatian Spirituality, I might enjoy the colours of nature, or walk with quiet serenity through the forest of Donadea, which is quite close to where I reside, but it was more of an escape from the trials of life or in an attempt to renew myself or to share a walk with family or friends. Being aware of God in nature, you use the senses more to absorb the experience in its totality, rather than walk in a semi-comatose state. With a different awareness and connectedness the trials of the world seem fairly insignificant alongside the vastness of creation. Ignatius asks us to use them to assist us in our journey towards God: to find God in all things.

How to Pray:

Setting time and a place aside for prayer, making a deliberate appointment with the Lord elevates the Prayer time to something significant, so that if I have difficulty keeping the appointment, I do not treat it frivolously. AN act of will and choice is required to make the time available, no matter how short that period is. People do it unconsciously every day: it is part of who they are. It is a swing of the heart to meet the person of Jesus in prayer and imagine that person waiting for me. It is about creating a sacred space somewhere within the house, even in a corner if no other space is available. What matters is to choose the time, Matthew 12: 'Lord it is good for us to be there'.

As Ignatius stressed to use what helps, rather than use what you were told would help, gives a great freedom in prayer method. In School the Fourth Year students run a club for disabled adults every Wednesday evening and at the start the boys were reluctant to commence the evening with prayer, but now I notice that they have learned from the disabled a way to pray unselfconsciously, that has affected them very deeply. For e.g. some of the men pray for Mr. Bean because he makes them laugh; they pray for their careers in St. Raphael's and their families; they pray for the boys in school because they are good to them and spend time with them. Now the boys bring their own cares to the prayer session without worrying about the reaction of their peers. It has been a valuable learning experience. The boys also noticed that the disabled live in the present and there are no pretentious: they respond to how people treat them rather than who people are. It is an Ignatian way in a quiet, unpretentious setting.

It also challenges us to live in the present; it gives a deeper meaning to relationships in our lives because we are unaware of the future. The awareness of God in all around helps to avoid blaming others when life turns sour, when we experience bereavement or general discontent in our lives. I believe that through the Ignatian Vision we are asked to notice what is happening internally, we are invited to take responsibility for how we feel and given tools to make relevant changes, so that our lives can be more harmonious. It gives us clarity so that the quality of lives can improve.

I find the text Sadhana, (A Way to God), by Fr. Tony de Mello very useful with young people as the exercises are short and can be uses very successfully.

Spiritual Direction:

I would have regarded it as mainly the reserve of religious, but having experienced Spiritual Direction all year, I realised that it is an amazing way of again being deliberate in our search for God and for meaning in life. So much internal movement in our lives can be missed, or forgotten about and so in Spiritual Direction we notice the subtleties within, that may be crucial to understanding what is really happening.
I found that recognising models, out of which we unconsciously operate, very useful in my day to day interaction with people. It made me more aware of the need to embrace different ways of doing things and accepting that each person is unique and has his or her own way of relating to the world. Thus St. Ignatius' perception of the Trinity at work in the universe.
It made me more aware of accepting how different cultures express themselves in prayer. Can I embrace that difference comfortably? Can I accept that the people in our lives are our teachers and we should observe them more carefully.

Some members of our staff who had spiritual direction once a week during Lent, said that it was a very valuable experience. It gave them time out to reflect on their lives in a very gentle and meaningful way. Ignatian spirituality had come alive for them.

In Conclusion:
In finding a method of prayer that makes sense in our lives, brings us in closer contact with our purpose. In Ignatian Spirituality that is clear and so it gives us a greater order about what we do, so that our lives are more deliberate.
I conclude with the words of Adrian Van Kaam in 'Search of Spiritual Identity':

"The life of the Spirit is each person's search for spiritual identity, a search that will never be ended in this life. As long as we live we will discover new aspects of our spiritual identity, hidden from time and eternity in the divine Word.".

Surely St. Ignatius has given both lay and religious a creative way of discovering that the 'longest journey in our lives, is the journey inwards'. Dag Hammarskold in Markings.

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