photo source: internet
Dear Friends in the Lord,
This year we find ourselves in the midst of a four-fold celebration: The Year of St Joseph (Dec 8,2020-Dec 8, 2021); The Year of Amoris Laetitia (March 19, 2021-June 26,2022); 500 Years of Christianity in the Philippines; and The Ignatian Year, commemorating the wounding of St Ignatius' leg by a cannonball which opened him to the journey of putting Christ at the center of his life (May 20, 2021-July 31, 2022).
Amid all these celebrations, we wish to draw our attention this month to the legacy of St Ignatius of Loyola by remembering how the Lord has guided and led him to an awakening to the truth about himself and of the God who loved him; the God who continually invited him to companionship as a co-laborer in bringing about His reign. During the next 31 days, we invite us all to enter more deeply into the precious gift given to us by God through St Ignatius: a spirituality that helps to follow the Spirit in all circumstances of life and whose Spiritual Exercises we hold "as the specific source and the characteristic instrument of our spirituality (GP, 5)."
Starting July 1, we will be posting materials through our social media accounts that will aid us in encountering the Lord using some key reflections, life experiences, and works of St. Ignatius, to deepen our interior knowledge of Christ and our fervent commitment to follow him ever more closely through passionate commitment to our CLC vocation. We pray this humble offering from the CLCP Formation Institute will lead us to journey more intentionally in putting Christ at the center of our lives again and again as we labor in making the peace, justice, and love of the Kingdom more apparent in our world.
Formation Institute
We begin our journey with this prayer by St. Ignatius.
Take and Receive
Prayer of St. Ignatius of Loyola
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WEEK 1
Video Song: Bawat Sandali
This is a prayer of a disciple who begs the Lord to grant him the grace of the Second Week of the Spiritual Exercises (to see Him more clearly, to love Him eternally, and to follow His footsteps). As we start our month-long preparation for the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola, as one community let us beg the Lord to grant us the same grace.
St. Ignatius Loyola and His Legacy by Cardinal Tagle
As we watch this video, let us examine our conscience and ask ourselves, "dadalhin ba ako ng aking mga gawa at salita sa ikabubuti ng aking kaluluwa o ihahatid ba ako nito sa kawalan ng direksyon sa buhay?" "If I believe that I am doing his will already, what can I do more?"
Revisiting Ignatius of Loyola's prayerful insights by Cardinal Tagle
May we allow ourselves to be inspired by the prayers of Ignatius of Loyola, so that we may truly become more generous and surrender ourselves to God just like him and Jesus.
DAY 1
What is your cannonball experience? How is God speaking to you through this experience?
DAY 2
Which parts of my life am I willing to surrender to God's will?
DAY 3
Look deeply into the eyes of Christ and listen to the deepest desire of your heart. Reflect on the words of Jesus to his disciples: "Who do people say that I am?" (Mark 8:27)
DAY 4
Our community is made up of Christians: men and women, adults and youth, of all social conditions who want to follow Jesus Christ more closely and work with him for the building of the Kingdom, who have recognized Christian Life Community as their particular vocation within the Church. (General Principles, 4)
DAY 5
How is the service that you render to other people a meeting place with God?
WEEK 2
Grace to beg for:
Lord, I beg for the grace of falling in love with you with a deeper appreciation of my CLC vocation and the giftedness of CLC in the church and in the world.
When we look at the history of our community since its inception as Sodality of Our Lady in 1563 until it adopted its current name as Christian Life Community in 1967, our attention is called to the "initiative of the Holy Spirit who distributes gifts and graces by which all the faithful can contribute to the building up of the Church." (Lumen Gentium, 12).
As we continue our journey in preparation for the feast of St Ignatius of Loyola and as we respond to the different challenges and invitations both by the Church and the world, let us ponder and reflect on the gifts or charism we offer to the Church as a community.
These chrisms given by the Holy Spirit and handed down to our community by Ignatius, is a gift of grace, conferred not for personal sanctification but for the benefit of others.
The following reflections on our charism are lifted from a letter prepared by the World Secretariat entitled "The Christian Life Community and Responding to the Challenges of the Youth". The letter captures beautifully the charism that our community can offer to the church and to the world.
DAY 6
What is it that we want of Jesus? What is it that comes from Jesus that we can share with others?
Day 7
Where is God in my life now? Where is he truly alive and laboring?
DAY 8
How am I living out my baptismal call to serve the Lord and work with Him for the building up of the Kingdom? (GP, 4)
DAY 9
How have I grown in my relationship with the Lord through my particular CLC community?
DAY 10
What special graces has our Lord been bestowing on you in order for you to be more of service for the mission?
DAY 11
Where do you feel God is calling and sending the entire Christian Life Community amidst the realities of Philippine society today?
DAY 12
What areas of my life and my particular community are called to deepen and to share?
WEEK 3
It is an undeniable fact that a number of our members are already in their senior years. Most of them have given the prime of their lives to the community, whether serving in a particular apostolate or ministry, guiding a community or just by praying with the community.
We acknowledge that our senior members are the pillars of our community. In spite of their personal struggles and limitations, they have persevered and have become a living testimony of how God deals with us with unconditional love, limitless patience and heartfelt generosity.
As we continue our preparation for the feast of St. Ignatius, the Formation Institute will be featuring articles and reflections that we hope will help our senior members realize that the grace of the Lord remains even as they grow older.
DAY 13
Five Gifts of Ignatian Spirituality for the Aging
by Barbara Lee
(The article that follows was written by Barbara Lee, a practicing spiritual director who lives in New York City. She is a retired attorney, a former U.S. magistrate judge, and a long-serving member of the Ignatian Volunteer Corps. It appeared in ignatainspirituality.com.)
God calls us in different ways at different times in our lives, including after retirement or when physical limitations change our way of living. After retiring from the legal profession, I experienced a call to the ministry of spiritual direction. Going back to graduate school in my 70s seemed ridiculous-until I realized that growing older was what prepared me for a ministry to older adults. Here are some of the gifts I have experienced in my own life and observed in those to whom I minister.
DAY 14
Spirit-filled Memories
(An excerpt from "Moments to Remember: Ignatian Wisdom for Aging" by Sr. Carol Ann Smith, SHCJ and Fr. Eugene F. Merz, SJ)
DAY 15
Who are your family or community saints who continue to inspire and accompany you? With the help of your memory and imagination, and drawing upon your belief that they share in the "Communion of Saints," have a conversation with them.
DAY 16
DAY 17
The General Principles of the Christian Life Community succinctly states that "Our Community is made up of Christians: men and women, adults and youth, of all social conditions who want to follow Jesus Christ more closely and work with him for the building of the Kingdom..." (GP, 4). This shows that our community is open to all classes of people without discrimination. In the next three days our reflection will focus on three of the many sectors that comprise our society: the youth, those who had experience and are experiencing rejection in one way or another and family.
The Youth and Ignatian Spirituality
Ignatius of Loyola and his spiritual legacy continues to attract groups of people even today, including the young. Several schools and parishes administered by the Society of Jesus have organizations for young people. The Christian Life Community is no exception. It has several units for youths and young adults who sometimes serves as prayer session facilitators to the youth and young adults in non-Jesuit schools and churches.
Below is an excerpt of an article published in the Review of Ignatian Spirituality written by Christine Rossi, Pastoral Ministry Officer of the University of Malta. She is a member of CLC and is closely working with the youth and young adults. This article discusses central principles of Ignatian Spirituality that will help the young navigate life.
DAY 18
Rejection has ruined several lives.
Below is a prayer, written by Fr Jim Martin, SJ for all who feel excluded, rejected, marginalized, shamed, or persecuted in any way or in any place, religious or otherwise. If you happen to experience one of the above, you are invited to pray and own the prayer.
DAY 19
"I thank God that many families, which are far from considering themselves perfect, live in love, fulfill their calling and keep moving forward, even if they fall many times along the way." (Amoris Laetitia, 57)
WEEK 4
As our journey comes to a close, we will spend the next three days immersing ourselves in the prayers attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola: Anima Christi, Prayer for Generosity, and Suscipe. As we start this week, we beg the Lord to grant us the grace of remaining in Him, serving Him and the world in the spirit of magis, and entrusting to Him all that we are and all that we do until the end of our earthly pilgrimage.
DAY 20
This prayer is attributed to St. Ignatius of Loyola but historians say that it predates him more than a century ago. Ignatius loved this prayer so much that he made it the opening prayer of the Spiritual Exercises.
Feel free to pray the text of the Anima Christi or listen to the song arranged by our very own Tinnah dela Rosa.
DAY 21
In an article on Thinking Faith entitled "A Mysterious Ignatian Prayer." Fr Jack Mahoney, SJ wrote that the "Prayer for Generosity" often attributed to Ignatius was composed by a French Jesuit by the name of Fr Jacques Senvin, SJ about 1910 and found its way in French prayer books as the 'scouts prayer.'
You may want to pray the text of the Prayer for Generosity or listen to the song of the same title.
DAY 22
"What do I have to share with God?" Ignatius suggests an answer in Contemplatio Ad Amorem. Here is one of the greatest moments of the Spiritual Exercises. The answer is the prayer known as the Suscipe, the Latin word for "receive".
You may want to pray the text of Take and Receive or just listen to the song of the same title.
Our response to God's generosity is to give him the only things God doesn't already have: our freedom, our will, our memories, our entire selves. God has given us these things, and we are free to do whatever we want with them, no strings attached with God. Now, because we love God and he loves us, we freely give our entire selves back to him. The Suscipe is a prayer of total self-offering.
Novena to St. Ignatius of Loyola starts today!
Please click the link below to access the novena.
DAY 23
Second day of novena in honor of St. Ignatius of Loyola
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DAY 24
Third day of novena in honor of St. Ignatius of Loyola
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DAY 25
Today is the fourth day of novena in honor of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
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DAY 26
Today is the fifth day of novena in honor of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
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DAY 27
Today is the sixth day of novena in honor of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
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DAY 28
Today is the seventh day of novena in honor of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
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DAY 29
Today is the eighth day of novena in honor of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
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DAY 30
Today is the ninth day of novena in honor of St. Ignatius of Loyola.
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DAY 31
"All through his life he converted, [...] he put Christ in the centre. And he did so through discernment. Discernment is not about always getting it right from the start, but it's rather about navigating, about having a compass to be able to set out on the road which has many twists and turns, but always letting oneself be guided by the Holy Spirit who leads us to an encounter with the Lord."
- Pope Francis about St. Ignatius of Loyola
