The Passion of Christ (Week Three)

Experiencing God.

Encountering Christ.

Relational Connectedness with the Trinity.

I think this is the "normal Christian life" to borrow an idea from the old book by Watchman Lee.

Are we aiming too high?

Shouldn't we just set our sights a whole lot lower?

In Week Three of the Ignatian Exercises, the challenge is for a retreatant to have compassion with Christ's passion.

Com = with.

Passion = the suffering of Christ.

Compassion with jesus in Week Three is to share in the suffering of Christ, to have the empathetic connection with Christ in His suffering, to know Christ in his suffering. This is what the Apostle Paul says is his life goal in Philippians 3;10. Especially:

the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings,
becoming like him in death.

When was the last time you heard that one preached and explained in a way that made sense?

So, I am slowly working my way through the Passion narrative, trying to be with Christ in his sufferings, to feel, to know, to understand, to be with Jesus in all that he experienced. It is a bit odd to still be doing this "post-resurrection" but the schedule just didn't cooperate for moving through Week Three "pre-Easter."

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Normally we approach this part of the gospel with other agendas.

(1) The Apologetic Agenda: We want to go through the historical details of the story and show the horrible travesty of justice and how unjust the trial was. In fact, it was illegal at point after point. I have devoured apologetic treatments of the Passion of Christ. Intriguing exegetical stuff!

(2) The Theological Approach: We want to affirm the full biblical meaning of the events of the final day of Christ. We want to affirm the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy concerning Christ. The Atonement discussion around the cross of Christ has grown heated lately. Important. Needed. Even useful. But we can't stop there.

(3) Spiritual Formation. But how do I engage with these passages and this story in a spiritually formative way?

When we get past discussion of the text itself and the historical backgrounds and the theological meaning of the text, then comes the time when we ponder the implications for the spiritual life. Often, we do this in a rather pragmatic way. Above all, we like to see the practical application of being forgiven and then forgiving others in this part of the Gospel Story.

Sometimes we can go a little deeper and consider the experiences of the characters involved in the story. Maybe we connect with Peter's experience, but if we do so, it is because we are finding a principle in Peter that we can generalize and from which we draw a personal application.

This time I have been asking - what is Peter feeling, thinking, experiencing in this encounter (on the day I wrote this reflection, it is as Jesus is before the Sanhedrin)? Impossible you say to know. If the text says Peter is sad, then you know. If the text says he is angry - than you know? If the text says Peter wept bitterly, then he wept bitterly. Otherwise, it is just pure conjecture on your part.

And to go even further (and here is where it gets very hard) what is Jesus experiencing during these moments?

Jesus is silent, we read. But what is he thinking, feeling, experiencing while he is silent. For the purpose of Week Three is to be "with Jesus" and in the words of Paul, "to have the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings."

But I try.

I move into the realm of questions, wondering, supposing, guessing… This very process of wanting to know Christ in his sufferings is good. I am engaging with a Person and not with Ideas about an event. The ideas are just a stepping stone to encounter a Person. They are needed but they are not the END POINT, only the means toward that end.

And it seems to me that as I seek to do this, I am moving into Relational Spirituality, Relational Christianity.

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Isn't this so subjective, my critic asks me. My friend is a good friend, but still, critical, a bit suspicious, certainly skeptical. He is only interested in objective truth.

What is Jesus I ask? An object to be studied or a subject to be known? (I must have sounded profound, for my friend doesn't answer.)

People are not meant to be objects. In fact, we think it is bad if we "objectify" another. We know we have done something wrong to the objectified one. People are subjects to be known and loved.

We Evangelical Deists have objectified Jesus. We have reduced Jesus to a set of true ideas. We may like ideas, even be moved by the idea… but it is an idea that is doing this and not a Person. Isn't this a lesser reality? Excited about an idea when we are invited to be Loved and Known by a Person who invites us to reciprocate.

Is there any difference between the following loves.

I love the Bible?

I love Jesus?

Tell me you see the difference?

The one can love you back?

Yes, it is wonderfully, mysteriously, messily SUBJECTIVE.

So I press on, seeking com-passion with Christ, to know Him in His sufferings.

Ideas still thrill me… they intrigue me… some of them irritate me… they occupy my time… they receive some of my best energies. But the idea has ceased to be the END. Now, it is only a MEANS to a much greater End. Encounter, Experience, Friendship, Intimacy, Connectedness with Christ.

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I think this is what Thomas Aquinas meant, in part, when after he experienced God near the end of his life said, "All I have written is but straw." And he never wrote again. One of the most brilliant theologians and prolific authors of words encountered God and never wrote again!

I think this is what Pascal was describing when he wrote, "fire, fire, fire…" and kept the words sown into his jacket, near his heart, for the rest of his life. Personal Encounter with the Living God.

So I continue reading, reflecting, wondering, asking questions, seeking to imagine with my poor faculties - what was Jesus experiencing. And how can I be com-passionate with Christ's passion?

30 minutes… then 60 minutes… then longer… I have to stop… I am skirting the edge of mystery… and still feeling so far away from com-passion.

Tomorrow is another movement in the Passion of Christ. His torment and pain will grow stronger with each passing narrative movement. I was barely able to be with Christ today. What will I possibly do tomorrow.

But this is my desire…

and I continue to be an Evangelical on the Ignatian Way of Proceeding.

For a few more days, at least, that way of proceeding is the way of com-passion.

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

Suscipe and the Contemplation to Attain God's Love

There is a beginning and an end… and hopefully everything in-between is congruent and in harmony with what is said first and last.

In the previous post, I told you what the beginning of the Exercises is all about. That was the First Principle and Foundation which ground the retreatant in the very meaning of creation and the purpose of life. All things are created for our well being and to aid us in the pursuit of the glory of God.

The final reflection of Ignatius' Exercises is found in Notes 230-237. It is titled:

Contemplation to Attain the Love of God.

(By the way, there are many things that are contained as supplemental resources after this, but they are not the Exercises themselves.)

The First Principle and the Contemplation are the Bookends for the Exercises and are deeply intertwined and supportive of each other.

By the time a retreatant has come to this final reflection, Ignatius' assumption is that the retreatant is full of gratitude, having gained awareness of the Presence, Work and Word of Christ (or having Found God in All Things), has consecrated desires to know, love and serve God, and a generosity of spirit that desires to do more for the greater glory of God.

This final reflection invites the retreatant to consider the great love and grace of God for her or him. It is called the contemplation to ATTAIN God's love. But the word - attain - is not used in the sense of "learn" but rathe rin the sense of "awareness" or "the experience of" God's love.

There are four movements in this reflection. The retreatant reflects on:

God's gift to them (all the retreatant is and has is from God), #234

God's self-giving, #235

God's ongoing labors and works on their behalf, #236

God's unceasing self-giving love, #237

In the center of these reflections is a beautiful and profound prayer. It is sometimes referred to as the "Suscipe" which is simply the first Latin word of the prayer, which begins, "Take, Lord, and receive…" "Suscipe" is "take."

Here is the prayer:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

my memory,

my understanding,

and my entire will,

all that I have and possess.

Thou hast given all to me.

To Thee, O Lord, I return it.

All is Thine,

dispose of it wholly according to Thy will.

Give me Thy love and Thy grace,

for this is sufficient for me.

Ignatius of Loyola

This is a prayer of loving surrender and trust in response to the deep awareness of the enormous love and grace of God for us.

I recommend that you write out this prayer and pray it daily for the week to come. You may also want to reflect several times on these words from the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3:17-21

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge - that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever. Amen.

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions
International www.lci.typepad.com

First Principle and Foundation

Here is the First Principle and Foundation as it is found in The Spiritual Exercises.

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23. FIRST PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION

Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

The other things on the face of the earth are created for man to help him in attaining the end for which he is created.

Hence, man is to make use of them in as far as they help him in the attainment of his end, and he must rid himself of them in as far as they prove a hindrance to him.

Therefore, we must make ourselves indifferent to all created things, as far as we are allowed free choice and are not under any prohibition. Consequently, as far as we are concerned, we should not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, a long life to a short life. The same holds for all other things.

Our one desire and choice should be what is more conducive to the end for which we are created.

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It is difficult to emphasize how significant this First Principle and Foundation are for Ignatius theology and spirituality. Even the words used by Ignatius, tell us how significant it is. It is the First Principle, not just in terms of order of appearance, but in terms of priority. And it is the foundation or support for what Ignatius will now begin to teach.

In stead of a full essay on the meaning of this Text, I'll just provide several brief comments and observations.

ONE:
I am struck by the similarity of this First Principle and the language used by the Reformers in their catechisms. And one in particular, the Westminster Shorter Catechism, which asks:

Q: What is the chief end of man?

A: The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.

(Here is the Westminster Assembly which produced the Confession and Catechisms.)

Ignatius is of the same spirit as were the Protestant Reformers in their desire to glorify God above all else.

This is also seen in the Baltimore Confession, question six.

Q: Why did God make me?

A: God made me to know him, to love him, and to serve him, and to be happy with him forever in heaven.

TWO:
I stand in the stream of "Reformational Worldview" thinking. Ignatius has, at least, this same approach in an incipient form. By a Reformational Worldview, I mean, understanding the Grand Biblical Narrative in terms of this framework:

Creation - Fall - Redemption (Israel, Christ, Church) - Renewal of All Things / Consummation.

While the Exercises will mainly focus on Fall (Week One) and Redemption (Weeks Two-Four), Ignatius front loads the Exercises with this Creational theme. The First Principle and Foundation are exactly that for what follows. And "Creation" will appear at various points throughout the Exercises.

THREE:
Ignatius, is once again, robustly biblical in his First Principle. Since I have spent a fair amount of time studying and teaching through Ephesians in the last number of months, a number of texts from that letter of Paul come to mind.

I won't write them out here, but I suggest you turn to Ephesians and read:

1:3-14 for how we have received every spiritual blessing, to the praise of His glory and the complete salvation of our lives.

Then...

2:8-10 with its strong emphasis on our very creational DNA is for a missional purpose, which is also created by God. We are created for a purpose and our "works of service' are also planned out for us.

FOUR:
And then, all other things in creation, are created for our blessing, our benefit, our use and our stewarding care. All things on earth are designed to be the context and occasion of our "imitation of Christ" and our glorifying of God. All things are either useful (or not) toward this end. Ignatius is going to help us learn how to be passionate about what is MOST conducive toward the end for which we are created.

And this will lead to two of the CORE CONTRIBUTIONS of Ignatius, and that is histheme of freedom from any attachments that keep us from the BEST pursuit of the end for which we are created, and a genuine "indifference" toward all things. Indifference, not in the sense of not caring, but indifference in the sense of not bound to them. And the second theme being "more for the greater glory of God."But more on this part of the First Principle and Foundation next week.

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And tomorrow, a very brief post explaining a few of the names and titles for the Jesuits.

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

Anima Christ of Ignatius by Puhl, Fleming and Tetlow versions

Here is the Anima Christi prayer in three versions. Each one is moving and useful. I encourage you to pray these prayers this coming week.

By the way, I recommend to you, a little book on payer, Hearts on Fire: Praying With the Jesuits, edited by Michael Harter, SJ, published by Loyola Press.

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Ignatius

Anima Christi (Soul of Christ)

Source: The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, trans. Louis J. Puhl, S.J.

Soul of Christ, sanctify Me

Body of Christ, save Me

Blood of Christ, inebriate Me

Water from the side of Christ, wash me

Passion of Christ, strengthen me

O Good Jesus, hear me

Within Thy wounds hide me

Permit me not to be separated from Thee

From the wicked foe defend me

At the hour of my death call me

And bid me come to Thee

That with Thy saints I may praise Thee

For ever and ever.

Amen

David Fleming, S.J.

Soul of Christ Prayer

Source: Hearts on Fire: Praying With the Jesuits (pp. 3-4)

Jesus, may all that is in you flow into me.

May your body and blood be my food and drink.

May your passion and death be my strength and life.

Jesus, with you by my side enough has been given.

May the shelter I seek be the shadow of your cross.

Let me not run from the love which you offer.

But hold me safe from the forces of evil.

On each of my dyings shed your light and your love.

Keep calling to me until that day comes.

When with our saints, I may praise you forever.

Amen

Joseph Tetlow,S.J. (pictured)

I Choose to Breathe the Breath of Christ

Source: Hearts on Fire: Praying With the Jesuits (pp. 5-6)

I choose to breathe the breath of Christ that makes all life holy.

I choose to live the flesh of Christ that outlasts sin's corrosion and decry.

I choose the blood of Christ along my veins and in my hearts that dizzies me with joy.

I choose the living waters flowing from his side to wash clean my own self and the world itself.

I choose the awful agony of Chrsit to charge my senseless sorrows with meaning and to make my pain pregnant with power.

I choose you, good Jesus, you know.

I choose you, good Lord; count me among the victories that you have won in bitter roundedness.

Never number me among those alien to you.

Make me safe from all ha seeks to destroy me.

Summon me to come to you.

Stand me solid among angels and saints chanting yes to all you have done, exulting in all you mean to do forever and ever.

The for this time, Father of all, keep me, from the core of my self, choosing Christ in the world.

Amen

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

In the End You Will be a Mystic

Karl Rahner is one of the great Jesuit theologians, and indeed, one of the great theologians of the church. Rahner was a mystagogue. A mystagogue is one who teaches mystery and one who leads the learner into the realm of mystery.

Rahner was both a theologian of mystery and had a deep mystical spirituality.

And Rahner developed a "Mysticism for Everyone."

Here is a beautiful quote. I originally read it in a longer context in Brennan Manning's book,Ruthless Trust. Here it is as Rahner said it inTheological Investigations 7:15.

The devout Christian of the future will either be a mystic, one who has experienced something, or he will cease to be anything at all.

The Ignatian Way is a way that helps us inveterate rationalists encounter the mystery of Christ in experiential and personal ways. The brilliant theologian Rahner, was also the devout spiritual director who led many in the Spiritual Exercises. For these Exercises helped Rahner become one who has encountered the living and loving God.

In the end, we must all become mystics... or else become nothing at all.

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com

The Sources Behind and Influences on the Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius, Part Two

This is continued from the previous post.

For those who are newer readers for this blogsite, I typically post ONE NEW POST PER WEEK and the day of posting is on Sunday. Every now and then I do a shorter post in-between Sundays. Tomorrow I have a short one.

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THREE

The spiritual climate was changing rapidly in Ignatius time and there were many movements with their writings. Ignatius was not developing his ow approach in a vacuum. Instead, there are some significant spiritual movements (and their writings) which influenced him.

I mentioned in the previous post that Ignatius made a stop at the Abbey of Montserrat. While there he was given a copy of a book by the previous (and late) Abbott Garcia de Cisneros of Montserrat. The Abbott had developed his own set of exercises and put them down in a book titled: The Book of Exercises for the Spiritual Life. This book was a catalyst that helped Ignatius think about his own Spiritual Exercises.

Of great influence was another book which Ignatius read over and over throughout his lifetime and which he first read while at Manresa. That is The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis. (Read more about Thomas a Kempis here.)

a Kempis was influenced by a movement of deep spirituality known as the Devotio Moderna and the Brethren of the Common Life. (Read a very brief paragraph on this movement.) This was a group who valued simplicity, piety, community and service. This movement also had influence on several of the Protestant Reformers. Thomas a Kempis was actually a Brother of the Common Life.

The Imitation of Christ is one of the great classics of Western spirituality. This book supported, clarified and extended the spiritual processing which was taking place in Ignatius. In a Kempis and Ignatius we see kindred souls in their passion for Christ, in desire for Christlikeness and a sustained devotion to Christ.

The Imitation of Christ is much longer than the Exercises. The Imitation of Christ is a rich devotional book of meditations and reflections on Christ and the life of following Jesus. It has an entirely different tenor and purpose than the Exercises. The Imitation of Christ profoundly describes the life of imitating Christ, but, like so many other devotional books, it does not really show a way to do this. It is descriptive but not prescriptive. It is instructive when it comes to ideas but not empowering when it comes to the means for the one who wants to imitate Christ. (a Kempis pictured to the right.)

Ignatius and the Exercises are supremely process oriented and a series of progressive steps that are the way into such an imitation. The Exercises are the practical, tangible, means for the great imitation and the deep devotion to become real in one's life.

Here is where Ignatius was both influenced and in debt to others, and yet a true creative genius who went further than they did.

As I already mentioned, Ignatius was ever the practical genius, a man of action, someone who believed in implementation and execution. His Exercises have this essence.

In addition, The Book of Exercises by Abbot Garciaand The Imitation of Christ by a Kempis were both written for those participating in monastic life. Monastics were those secluded from the world, who have retreated from the world, especially for a life of prayerful devotion to God. In these monastic orders, there were pathways in place (for example, the hours of prayer) for their members to pursue a devotion to Christ. Ignatius was writing for those who would never be monastic.

Ignatius was developing a model that would prepare Jesuits and others for a world engaging, life long service to "help souls." Before these souls could be helped, the helper had to be deeply connected with Christ, profoundly aware of the movements of God around and within and already substantially well on the way to Christlikeness and sacrificial love.

The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius are both indebted to others and yet a creative advancement for a new world that is rapidly emerging out of the medieval times.

NOTE: I highly recommend reading the Imitation of Christ if you are interested in the Exercises of Ignatius. It is a very rich book of devotional wisdom that will easily transfer to your experience of the Exercises. I use the Image Books / Doubleday version. It was a "new translation" done in 1955!!! But it is very readable. I did a little checking to see about newer translations before posting this, but didn't have time to really find anything I would suggest.

FOUR:

Ascetic spirituality (and theology) is part of the context for Ignatius. The early years of Ignatius, when the Exercises were being written, were marked by extreme ascetical practices. Ignatius damaged his body permanently from the rigors of excessive asceticism. Later, with this hard won wisdom, he greatly limited these kinds of practices for his Company of Friends, the Jesuits.

What is interesting about the Exercises is that the spirit of rigorous devotion and absolute commitment to Christ is inherent in them, whereas the practices of asceticism are not. One does not find long hours of prayer, practices of bodily mortification (corporeal punishment as part of that), and excessive fasting as part of the Ignatian program. (The fasting image is found here.)

Ignatius had as his goal, for a retreatant making the Exercises to make an absolute commitment of surrender to Christ and sacrificial service to the world. But the way to do this differed from existing ways. The Spiritual Exercises, along with the Jesuits who practiced and taught them, were a new way God raised up.

I think one of the great needs in the Evangelical movement of the 21st century is to revisit the idea of what a healthy asceticism would look like. In our culture and movement, we err on the side of extravagance and excess. Sacrifice is not something that comes easily for many of us since we are acquiring, possessing and holding on to so much. We need a spirituality of relinquishment and this may be one aid to move in that direction.

FIVE:
Mystical spirituality! Ignatius was one of the great mystics of the Christian church. I didn't know that until the last few years. If you would ask me to name mystics, John of the Cross and Teresa of Avilla are names that would come to mind, but not Ignatius. What a mistake on my part!

Reading several biographies of Ignatius and the early Jesuits, I have come to understand how significant the mystical experience was for Ignatius. He had an unusual number of profound visions of the Holy Trinity that provided a significant Trinitarian overtone to his Exercises, even though they are Christo-centric.

Ignatius had the kind of supernatural experiences of God that would rival the great charismatic figures of our day. Ignatius lived as one for whom the barrier between heaven and earth was very thin and porous. Not only did Ignatius had mystical visions, but he also had a variety of mystical experiences which today we would describe as the "supernatural gifts of the Spirit" operating in his life. (Chapter 16 in Meissner, Ignatius of Loyola is my main source for this.)

But again, of great interest is that the Spiritual Exercises do not proscribe or promote a way of seeking after intense mystical visions or supernatural experiences. In one sense this is surprising, but in another it is not. On the one hand, you would expect that someone who lived in that world of extraordinary experiences would set forth a way for others to experience it also.

However, Ignatius was ever the practical and passionate lover of God and others. Ignatius wanted everyone to experience God and to serve God and others. He knew that in some cases, extraordinary, mystical experiences could be a detriment toward that. And he also knew that most people would not live or move in that world. Instead, Ignatius taught a "garden variety" way of mysticism. Ignatius taught the way of Finding God in all things, Experiencing God in all things and practicing the presence of God at all times.

I sometimes (jokingly) refer to this as"Mysticism Lite" for us ordinary followers of Jesus. Ignatius wants the heart, the affections to be warmed with the love of Jesus. His is not the way of dry intellect or dusty rationalism or lifeless moralism. The way of Ignatius is passionate love for the God one can experience every day and who then transforms us totally. The Exercises are for the transformation of one's mission, values, passion, motivation and heart.

So the Exercises are meant to help the "doer" see, envision, enter into, feel and experience the story and spiritual reality of Christ. The Exercises are not a rational study of texts. They are not detailed theological discussions. Nor are they even a how-to formula. They are stepping stones into the experience of Christ. Mysticism Lite for Ordinary Followers of Jesus.

The early drafts of the Exercises were being written during the time of profound personal encounter with Christ and mystical visions was part of that.

And as I mentioned in the previous point on asceticism, I also believe evangelicals need a recovery of the mystical component of the Christian life. If we have erred, it is to be rationalistic, moralistic and pragmatists. It is not that rationality or morality or pragmatism is wrong, but these things separated from relational connected with Jesus are wrong.

The way of Ignatian spirituality is the way of intense relational connectedness with the Triune God through Jesus Christ.

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The early drafts of the Exercises were written or at least sketched out 1521-1525'ish. Ignatius began to use it immediately as he gave direction to others. It was added to, revised and refined for the next 15 years, with a final redaction being done in Rome about 1540.

The Exercises was put into print in 1548. It has been published 4,500 times, which is about once a month for 400 years! It has sold over 4.5 million copies, "despite the fact that the book is about as dull as a teacher's manual of lessons plans. And that is exactly what it is." (Modras, pp 23.)

And pictured is my preferred edition, as much due to the layout which provides a lot of margin and white space for notes.

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There are other influences on Ignatius. In a later post, I will mention the cultural influences of his day, the main one being Renaissance humanism that was emerging as the new worldview. Ignatius and his Exercises were hugely shaped by this. But I have to work through those things some more before I can simplify it in a way that is still accurate.

These two weeks have been a historical detour.

Next week we return to the spirituality of the Exercises and we'll take a look at the First Principle and Foundation of the Exercises.

Brian K. Rice
Leadership ConneXtions International
www.lci.typepad.com