RECOLLECTION GUIDE
September, 2009
THEME: PRINCIPLE and FOUNDATION
Sub-theme: God’s Loving Presence in my Life;
Being Present to God.
Grace: That I may gain a deep understanding of and be amazed by how God personally and uniquely relates to me and thus be able to savor and relish His Loving Presence in my life.
Opening Prayer: (Pause for a few moments to feel God’s presence).
Almighty God and Father, present in all the whole universe, but present also in me and in all creatures, I worship You from the depths of my being and thank You with all my heart and soul for creating me to Your image and likeness thus making Your presence felt wherever I am. Make me always aware that You are near because of your LOVE. And this awareness should bring me closer to you as I continue to praise, reverence and serve You all the days of my life until I come to my eternal well-being, my Salvation. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ Your Son, Mother Mary and Venerable Ignacia del Espiritu Santo. Amen.
Opening Song: Yahweh You Are Near
Yahweh, I know You are near, Standing always
at my side. You guard me from the foe, and
you lead me in ways everlasting.
Lord, You have searched my heart and you know
When I sit and when I stand. Your hand is
upon meProtecting me from death keeping
me from harm. Ref.
Where can I run from Your love? If I climb to the
Heavens you are there; if I fly to the sunrise or
Sail beyond the sea still I’d find you there. Ref.
You know my heart and its ways, You who
formed meBefore I was born, In secret of
darkness before I
Saw the sun in my mother’s womb. Ref.
Marvelous to me are Your works, How profound
are your thoughts my Lord, even if I could
count them,
They number as the stars you would still be
there. Ref.
INTRODUCTION
Eph. 3: 14 – 21
This, then, is what I pray, kneeling before the Father, from whom every family, whether spiritual or natural, takes its name:Out of his infinite glory, may He give you the power through His Spirit for your hidden self to grow strong, so that Christ may live in your hearts through faith, and then planted in love and built on love, you will, with all the saints have strength to grasp the breadth and the
length, the height and the depth; until knowing the love of Christ, which is beyond all knowledge, you are filled with the utter fullnessof God.
Glory be to Him whose power, working in us, can do infinitelymore than we can ask or imagine; glory be to Him from generation togeneration in the Church and in Christ Jesus for ever and ever. Amen.
In last month’s recollection guide, we had for our theme the First Principle and Foundation in which was explained our purpose in life that is to Praise, Reverence and Serve God in order to attain our eternal salvation. In this month’s theme, God’s Loving Presence in Our Life,is a continuation of that Principle and Foundation which leads us todeeper spirituality and relationship with God.
Developing the practice of spirituality enables one to grow in the ability to see God in all things. The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatiusis pervaded by the sense of God’s presence in all creation which means that anything in human experience can be a source for prayer. People unfamiliar with prayer tend to think of it as something we have to do in church , or in some other holy place. On the contrary if spirituality is about our unique personal response to our personal experience of God,, then prayer can take place under any circumstance or in any place. If we allow God to self-reveal as He wills, then we will begin to see the hand of God in all things.
Reflect and pray over the letter of Paul to the Ephesians and feel his desire for us to grow strong, so that Christ may live in our hearts through faith … and ask for the grace suggested in the beginning.
First Hour of Prayer: Mystery of God’s Presence in
Us
If wecontemplate on who we really are, how we have come to existence, we cannot help but think of who created us and the totality of His love for us. God is dwelling in us through the power of the Holy Spirit. He called us by a special vocation at the time of our baptism. He adopted us as His sons and daughters which gives us our real dignity as persons and as Christians. The abiding presence of the Holy Spirit within us, is the source of our hope and joy for we are never alone.What a great source of peace and consolation for us.
One of the fruits of prayer is experiencing God as an integral part of our daily living. The fact that God himself is present objectively in our world and that he is working in his creation and in his gifts makes it possible or us to experience His presence in our lives. In the Contemplation to Obtain Divine Love, we realize that everything is gift from Him and how he sustains and energizes us through them.
In God’s presence let us thank God for all the gifts He has given us throughout our life and in the spirit of gratitude ask Himhow we may use them for God’s greater glory: Give thanks for the gift of creation, our parents, our immediate family, my body and my faculties even if they are not perfect, my special talents, friends, loved ones, and time to live no matter how quickly it seems to pass.
End this first hour with a psalm of thanksgiving: 103; or psalm 138.
Second Hour of Prayer: The Practice of the Presence
of God
According to a holy Carmelite Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection “the holiest, most ordinary and most necessary practice of the spiritual life is that of the presence of God. It is to delight in and become accustomed to His divine company, speaking humbly and conversing with him all the time, especially in times of temptation, suffering, dryness in prayer, weariness and even in infidelity. What a beautiful thing to do if we could practice being in God’s presence by turning to him habitually in our heart.”
Our 1726 rule no. 2 says, “ All should at all times and in all places be in God’s presence. In order to facilitate the exercise of this true presence, they should develop great purity of heart by keeping away from everything that could endanger it.”
Landas No. 46 also says, “Our inner attention is to be focused constantly on Jesus. We are sensitive to the movement of the Spirit within us, in the community and in the various realities around us.” And no. 43 states, “We live constantly in the sight of the Lord and strive to be always aware of His presence.”
You may find other ways to practice the presence of God: by meditating on some symbol that is meaningful to you; by remembering a particular event in your life which you are thankful for. What truly matters is theresult in living in God’s presence, namely,becoming consciously aware of the God who is always with us, but whom we often forget. Some short prayers would be appropriate to recall God’s presence such as, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner,” or “Lord, I am completely yours,” or any favorite short prayer that you can say from time to time.
What are some other practices that you do which help you live in God’s presence? It would be good to reflect on them and share them with the others..
Third Hour of Prayer: Seeing God’s presence in
Others
Jesus,who is a loving presence of God in the world, teaches us that God wants to love us and be loved in return through the way we love other people in our lives. We ask God to make our hearts pure so that we may be ready to see opportunities in our experiences to praise, reverence and serve God in others.Because we are made to the image and likeness of God, we ask for the grace to love the people in our lives: our families, our friends, our neighbors, co-workers, our constituents, the people we work for, complete strangers and enemies. We ask for the wisdom to understand the ways our lives must change in order to become more loving, both on a personal and social level.
An African proverb states: “Not to aid one in distress is to kill him in your heart.’ How often we pass others without even realizing our ability to aid them. We aid each other by our very presence. No presents are necessary for it is our presence that counts. Not even words are always necessary. A gentle touch, an arm around a shoulder, the gift of listening to a need, a nonjudgmental response, lending a hand to a project, sitting in a hospital room with a sick person, - these are someof the things that keep us alive in each other’s hearts. When we aid others, we give life to each other and make God’s presence felt in them and in us.
We pray for the grace of contemplative action, namely, making everything we do arise out of a deep, daily commitment to make our lives, choices and actions reflect theabiding presence and love for God and seeing Him in others.
How am I experiencing God’s presence and how is God experiencing me at the moment?
We close this third hour of prayer with the song THOSE WHO SEE LOVE CAN SEE GOD.
Ref.Those who see light can walk in the dark,
Those who see love can see God.
Those who look up will discover God’s face,
Those who look down will uncover God’s path
Those who perceive God is here with us now,
Will see God’s return. Ref.
Those who have witnessed the sun rise and set,
Those who have studied a flower unfold,
Those who have focused on land, sea and sky,
Have seen Jesus Christ. Ref.
Those who see good in each person they meet,
Those who look after their neighbor in need,
Those who believe God’s now living in them,
Will see God’s return. Ref.
Note: You may use the Prayers in Preparation for Death from last month’s recollection guide or from other prayers.
Suggestion: That one of the hours may be prayed before the Blessed Sacrament exposed in order to also be in His Sacramental Presence.
To be prayed in common:
Litany of the Saints
Midday Prayer
Prayers in Preparation for a Happy Death
Angelus
References:
Landas/ 1726 Rules
Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius
The Ignatian Workout by Tim Muldoon
Eight Days of the Spiritual Exercises by Florencio
Segura, S.J.
The Practice of the Presence of God by Salvatore
Sciurba, OCD
Spiritual Freedom by John English, S.J.
Tickle Your Soul by Anne Bryan Smollin
The recollection guides of August and September, 2009 were prepared by S. Maria Rafaela Singzon, RVM and S. Maria Teresa Valdez, RVM.
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