May 28, 2014 Wednesday: 5th Week of Easter A
Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said:
“You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious.
For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines,
I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’
What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.
Finding God in all things
This means that God – and people’s relationship with God – isn’t restricted to church, sacred texts or prayer. Every moment, no matter how mundane, is spiritual, and God can be found in every dimension of life.
“It means that nothing is considered outside the purview of the spiritual life. Ignatian spirituality is not confined within the walls of a church. It’s not a spirituality that considers only ‘spiritual’ topics, like prayer and sacred texts, as part of a person’s spiritual life.” -Fr. James Martin SJ
St. Ignatius Loyola included in his Spiritual Exercises a prayer called "the Examen," which derives from the Latin word for examination. The heart of the Examen is the third part: reviewing your day.
"Think of it as a movie playing in your head," writes James Martin, S.J., in The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything. "Push the play button and run through your day, from start to finish, from your rising in the morning to preparing to go to bed at night. Notice what made you happy, what made you stressed, what confused you, what helped you be more loving. Recall everything: sights, sounds, feelings, tastes, textures, conversations. Thoughts, words, and deeds, as Ignatius says. Each moment offers a window to where God has been in your day."
And remember that no experience is too trivial for spiritual investigation.
"Nothing in our lives is so insignificant that it doesn't deserve God's attention," notes Jim Manney in A Simple Life-Changing Prayer, a book about the Examen. "In fact, the mundane and the humdrum parts of our lives give depth and texture to our relationships with God. Washing the windows and cooking dinner are as much a part of the relationship as graduation day. If it's part of our human experience, God is in it."
http://jesuits.org/spirituality?PAGE=DTN-20130520125910
“You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious.
For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines,
I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’
What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.
Finding God in all things
This means that God – and people’s relationship with God – isn’t restricted to church, sacred texts or prayer. Every moment, no matter how mundane, is spiritual, and God can be found in every dimension of life.
“It means that nothing is considered outside the purview of the spiritual life. Ignatian spirituality is not confined within the walls of a church. It’s not a spirituality that considers only ‘spiritual’ topics, like prayer and sacred texts, as part of a person’s spiritual life.” -Fr. James Martin SJ
St. Ignatius Loyola included in his Spiritual Exercises a prayer called "the Examen," which derives from the Latin word for examination. The heart of the Examen is the third part: reviewing your day.
"Think of it as a movie playing in your head," writes James Martin, S.J., in The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything. "Push the play button and run through your day, from start to finish, from your rising in the morning to preparing to go to bed at night. Notice what made you happy, what made you stressed, what confused you, what helped you be more loving. Recall everything: sights, sounds, feelings, tastes, textures, conversations. Thoughts, words, and deeds, as Ignatius says. Each moment offers a window to where God has been in your day."
And remember that no experience is too trivial for spiritual investigation.
"Nothing in our lives is so insignificant that it doesn't deserve God's attention," notes Jim Manney in A Simple Life-Changing Prayer, a book about the Examen. "In fact, the mundane and the humdrum parts of our lives give depth and texture to our relationships with God. Washing the windows and cooking dinner are as much a part of the relationship as graduation day. If it's part of our human experience, God is in it."
http://jesuits.org/spirituality?PAGE=DTN-20130520125910
