KNOW YOUR ENEMIES IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY (PART 2)

Transcription

1 KNOW YOUR ENEMIES IGNATIAN SPIRITUALITY (PART 2) Dig deeper into Ignatian Spirituality and examine how to respond to the promptings of grace in order to enter (or re-enter) into relationship with God. Review the entire lesson plan in advance so you are prepared to lead and discuss comfortably. Adjust the suggested time allotments as necessary. Time Section Session 15 minutes CONNECT Lead a battle in Newspaper Dodgeball; then open with the Suspice (Latin for receive ). 65 minutes DISCUSS Discuss The Discernment of Spirits and the three steps (Be Aware, Understand, Take Action). Identify the strategies of the enemy and the grace God gives us to overcome him. 10 minutes COMMIT Ask participants to commit to making a daily Examination of Conscience, and encourage the Sacrament of Reconciliation. A Bible The Catechism of the Catholic Church (optional) Props for skit (this can make it more fun!) Sheets of newspaper or other inexpensive paper Blindfolds (optional) Paper Pens or pencils Participant Sheets Snacks (optional) 1

2 Before you lead an Examination of Conscience, it may be helpful to pray it on your own the few days leading up to the session. Review details of St. Ignatius life. This website has plenty of information: ignatianspirituality.com/ignatian-voices/st-ignatius-loyola/. Participate in games, and even volunteer to go first. This may help to break the ice while providing an example of playfulness and joy, especially if participants tend to be shy. Discipleship is about more than discussing the faith and participating in a small group. Discipleship requires learning from the example of a rabbi in this case, participants learn from your daily example. It is healthy for your group members to do regular, everyday activities together because they will learn from your example and the example of their peers. As they grow in fellowship and deeper friendship through these activities, they will grow as disciples. ACTIVITY SAY: This session s opening prayer appears in St. Ignatius retreat manual called The Spiritual Exercises. This prayer touches on two important things we ll be talking about: The surrender of earthly and sinful attachments, and Entering more deeply into a relationship with God. Before we dive into the spiritual exercises, we re going to start with a battle of Newspaper Dodgeball! First, we need to roll these sheets of newspaper into balls. Distribute sheets of newspaper so everyone can make the dodgeballs (2-3 per person should be plenty). Ask for a couple of volunteers to help you clear a space in the middle of the room for the game to take place. It should be big enough for your group to move around freely. Then, have participants place the newspaper dodgeballs in the middle of the space and form two teams. Have teams gather on opposite sides of the room. 2

3 SAY: For this first round, we will play with ordinary Dodgeball rules if you get hit by a ball by the opposing team, or if someone catches a ball you throw at them, you are out. You must also stay on your side of the room. When I say Go, your team can run to the middle, grab as many dodgeballs as you can, run back to touch the wall on your side of the room (to make the start of the game fair), and then start throwing. Ready? Get set GO! Allow time to play one round. Play with them and help enforce the rules as needed, until a team wins. SAY: That was great! Now we re going to play another round. But to make it more interesting, this round is going to be a little different. You will stay on the same team, and all of the rules of the game will be the same, except for one: You have to play blindfolded. Pass out blindfolds. You can also have participants simply close their eyes, but this may increase the temptation to peek. No peeking or you re out! And please, let s all be careful! Ready? Get set GO! Allow time to play one round. You may decide to help enforce the rules and safety from the sidelines this time. This round will be more chaotic and may take a little longer. SAY: That was a bit harder! Now we re going to play one last round. You don t have to be blindfolded this time, and all of the rules are normal, except for one: You don t know who your teammates are. Only I know who is on your team. It could be someone with the same hair color, type of shoe, or the same first letter of your last name. You just have to play the round through, and hope that you don t hit someone who is on your team! Before they play, pick something to determine the teams, such as hair color (blondes versus brunettes), shoe type (sneakers versus sandals), height (short people versus tall) etc. It can be arbitrary; just don t tell them who is on which team until the game is over! Ready? Get set GO! Allow time to play one round. You ll probably need to referee from the sidelines so you can pay close attention and tell people when they re out. This round will likely be the most chaotic, but that is the point. Announce the winning team (if there is anyone left who is not out), and have everyone gather back together. 3

4 That was fun! I bet those last couple rounds were not as easy as the first one. What was it like to play Dodgeball blindfolded? What were some of the challenges? Allow time for responses. What about when you didn t know who your teammates were? What made it difficult to play the game then? Allow time for responses. We played that game for fun, but the battle of Dodgeball can also teach us a lot about the battle of the spiritual life. Let s open our time together in prayer. Together pray the Suscipe (pronounced SOO-sheep-ay) together. Then ask for a volunteer to read Ephesians 6: Both are printed below and on the Participant Sheet. SUSPICE: PRAYER OF ST. IGNATIUS 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. 4

5 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Ephesians 6:11-18 SAY: Like I said, we played that game for fun, but the battle of Dodgeball can also teach us a lot about the battle of the spiritual life. Every day, we are faced with decisions to make should I clean my room? Do my homework? Say something kind to the kid who sits by himself at lunch? and with temptations that try to tell us what to do. Good and evil (the voice of Truth and the lies of the devil) are at war in us, and sometimes it can be hard to hear God in the midst of it. St. Ignatius of Loyola, a soldier from the 1500s who had a huge conversion after being injured in battle, wrote a retreat manual called The Spiritual Exercises to help us work through this very problem. Being a military man, he used his life experiences to teach what s known as discernment of spirits. ASK: Does anyone know what discernment of spirits means? Let s start by defining discernment. Discernment itself is a sifting or weighing process it is the ability to judge well between things. 5

6 When we discern, we want to hang onto things that are truly good for us and let go of those things which maybe have the illusion of being good but really aren t. Discerning between simple things like whether or not to eat an apple or a candy bar can be easy enough, but what about discerning spirits? Ignatius drew from his experience as he lay in bed recovering from a cannonball wound. As he considered his life, the direction he was heading in, and what the future may have in store, he noticed interior movements. A movement could simply be characterized as a feeling, inclination, or even words or thoughts happening in the heart. Ignatius realized that these movements were caused by good and evil spirits acting upon him. He realized that it was crucial to follow the good spirits and to reject the evil spirits that were tempting him away from God if he wanted to have real and lasting happiness. Ask for a volunteer to read CCC 2847 aloud. It can be found on their Participant Sheets and below, for your reference: The Holy Spirit makes us discern between trials, which are necessary for the growth of the inner man, and temptation, which leads to sin and death. We must also discern between being tempted and consenting to temptation. Finally, discernment unmasks the lie of temptation, whose object appears to be good, a delight to the eyes and desirable, when in reality its fruit is death. God does not want to impose the good, but wants free beings. There is a certain usefulness to temptation. No one but God knows what our soul has received from him, not even ourselves. But temptation reveals it in order to teach us to know ourselves, and in this way we discover our evil inclinations and are obliged to give thanks for the goods that temptation has revealed to us. CCC 2847 SAY: There s a lot of information to unpack in that quote. Let s see if we can break it down a bit more. Have everyone get into pairs or trios and discuss the following questions, which are also found on the Participant Sheets. After they ve had a few minutes to discuss, ask them for their responses and help guide the conversation. ASK: What s the difference between temptation and trials? What s the difference between being tempted and consenting to temptation? How can temptation be useful, according to the Catechism? 6

7 To help with the conversation, here are some definitions adapted from the Catechism glossary you can offer: Temptation: An attraction, either from outside oneself or from within, to act contrary to right reason and the commandments of God ; leads to sin and death Trials: Difficulties (big or small) we experience every day, which challenge us to a greater trust in God; necessary for our growth in holiness Being Tempted: Experiencing the attraction to act contrary to right reason and God s commandments; not sinful, unless actively sought out or acted upon; Jesus himself during his life on earth was tempted Consenting to Temptation: sin; a deliberate thought, word, deed or omission contrary to the eternal law of God ; turning away from God (the good) and toward the enemy (the bad); Jesus and his mother Mary never consented to temptation This may seem like a lot, and it might even be a bit scary to think of a battle between good and evil going on in our hearts, but some words of St. Paul provide encouragement and hope for us in the midst of our struggle. Ask a volunteer to read 1 Corinthians 10:13 aloud. It can be found on the Participant Sheets and below, for your reference: No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 Father Timothy Gallagher explains the steps in discerning spirits: Three Steps in Discernment of Spirits Adapted from Fr. Timothy Gallagher s The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living 1. Be Aware: This is the effort to notice what is happening in our inner spiritual lives, and what is spiritually stirring in our hearts and thoughts. 2. Understand: This is the reflection on the stirrings we have noticed that allows us to recognize which of them comes from God and which does not. 3. Take Action: This is accepting and living according to what we have recognized as being of God, and rejecting or removing from our lives what we have recognized as not being of God. 7

8 Have you experienced anything like what Fr. Timothy talks about? In our first Dodgeball game, we were aware of what was going on and could understand what was happening in the game. We could see the dodgeballs and understand our team divisions. But the game became much more difficult when we were blindfolded or didn t know who our teammates were; it made it almost impossible to play the game. In order to win the battle of the spiritual life, we have to Be Aware of the things that are happening in our spiritual lives, Understand what those things mean, and then Take Action accept and live in God, and reject what is not from Him. Let s start becoming more aware of ourselves right now. There are a couple questions on your Participant Sheets for you to reflect on. Point out the following questions on the Participant Sheets, and allow time for individuals to answer them in writing. Hand out pens or pencils as needed. ASK: Where are you currently in your relationship with God? What are the good things you can embrace in your life, and what are the evil spirits you need to rebuke? How can you be more aware of and able to discern the good and evil spirits that are battling for your attention? SAY: Now let s make a personal step, which is the whole point of this session. This will require us to be quiet and see ourselves in action as if we were watching the film of ourselves performing or playing in the big game. St. Ignatius, our coach, proposes that we engage in a daily Examination of Conscience in order to do this. The Examination of Conscience is a brief (5-10 minute) meditation upon your day, and it consists of several key steps: Thanksgiving Begging for Grace Account of Actions Repentance Resolution 8

9 We are now going to pray through the Examination of Conscience together. I will guide you through the steps and attempt to keep us on time. You will simply pray quietly and follow my promptings as I move us from step-to-step. Begin and end with the Sign of the Cross. Lead participants through the Examination by simply introducing each step below. Time estimates are in parentheses, but don t get too concerned about micromanaging the time for each portion here. Let the Holy Spirit guide you. Thanksgiving: Open by giving thanks to God for favors and benefits received throughout the day. (Allow approximately 1 minute.) Beg for Grace: Ask God for the grace to know your sins and areas of sin, and to be rid of them. Beg that the Holy Spirit would guide you in this time of prayer. (Allow approximately 1 minute.) Account of Actions: Examine your actions of the day, hour by hour, from the moment you woke until the present moment. Examine your actions first, then the thoughts and words behind or motivating the act. Do this for every particular fault that may have occurred. Pay attention to the movements of your heart. Did you waver in your decision to sin before you did it? Did you feel the pull of God not to do it? (Allow approximately 3-5 minutes.) Repentance: Express sorrow for the sins you have committed and ask God for forgiveness. Do these while imagining you are having a face-to-face conversation with Jesus Himself. (Allow approximately 2 minutes.) Resolution: Ask for the grace to come up with specific resolutions to make amends for the wrong that was done. (Allow approximately 1 minute.) Invite the group to pray the Our Father out loud together after the examen. You have some journaling space on your Participant Sheets; take a few moments to journal about your time of prayer. What was God revealing to you through this Examination? If you have time, you can invite everyone to turn to a partner to discuss the meditation. Ensure them that they don t have to share their sins with one another! The questions are all about the experience of the prayer itself. ASK: What was it like to give thanks to God? What did you do to focus? Was it easy or difficult? Explain. What was it like to imagine having a face-to-face conversation with Jesus about specific actions you committed? 9

10 St. Ignatius practical guide to discernment of spirits is something of a scouting report for each of us. He identifies the ways of the good and evil spirits. But that is not enough; it needs to become more personal. So Ignatius proposes the Daily Examination of Conscience, in which we allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate those areas of our lives that need conversion, those areas of sin that need to be transformed. In short, He wants us to attain our end we were created to praise, reverence, and serve God. Only within this relationship do we find real happiness. SAY: I challenge you to make the Examination of Conscience a daily habit beginning this week! The more you do it, the easier it will become, and soon it will naturally be part of your daily ritual. Let s close with this prayer called the Anima Christi, by St. Ignatius: Anima Christi: Soul of Christ, sanctify me Body of Christ, save me Blood of Christ, inebriate me Water from Christ s side, wash me Passion of Christ, strengthen me O good Jesus, hear me Within Thy wounds hide me Suffer me not to be separated from Thee From the malicious enemy defend me In the hour of my death call me And bid me come unto Thee That I may praise Thee with Thy saints and with Thy angels Forever and ever Amen. Inform your group about the times that the Sacrament of Reconciliation is offered at your parish (which can often be found in your parish bulletin, on your website, or at masstimes.org). Let them know that they don t need to be afraid to go to Confession, and that they can speak with you after if they have questions. As a quick resource on the Sacrament of Reconciliation, check out this PDF: kofc.org/en/resources/cis/devotionals/2075.pdf. 10

11 KNOW YOUR ENEMIES PARTICIPANT SHEET SUSCIPE: PRAYER OF ST. IGNATIUS 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. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having girded your loins with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; above all taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the evil one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. Ephesians 6:11-18 The Holy Spirit makes us discern between trials, which are necessary for the growth of the inner man, and temptation, which leads to sin and death. We must also discern between being tempted and consenting to temptation. Finally, discernment unmasks the lie of temptation, whose object appears to be good, a delight to the eyes and desirable, when in reality its fruit is death. God does not want to impose the good, but wants free beings. There is a certain usefulness to temptation. No one but God knows what our soul has received from him, not even ourselves. But temptation reveals it in order to teach us to know ourselves, and in this way we discover our evil inclinations and are obliged to give thanks for the goods that temptation has revealed to us. CCC

12 Read the CCC passage above. Then discuss with a partner: What s the difference between temptation and trials? What s the difference between being tempted and consenting to temptation? How can temptation be useful, according to the Catechism? No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your strength, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. 1 Corinthians 10:13 Three Steps in Discernment of Spirits Adapted from Father Timothy Gallagher s The Discernment of Spirits: An Ignatian Guide for Everyday Living 1. Be Aware: This is the effort to notice what is happening in our inner spiritual lives, and what is spiritually stirring in our hearts and thoughts. 2. Understand: This is the reflection on the stirrings we have noticed that allows us to recognize which of them comes from God and which does not. 3. Take Action: This is accepting and living according to what we have recognized as being of God, and rejecting or removing from our lives what we have recognized as not being of God. 2

13 Where are you currently in your relationship with God? What are the good things you can embrace in your life, and what are the evil spirits you need to rebuke? How can you be more aware of and able to discern the good and evil spirits that are battling for your attention? Ignatian Examination of Conscience Thanksgiving: Open by giving thanks to God for favors and benefits received throughout the day. Beg for Grace: Ask God for the grace to know your sins and areas of sin, and to be rid of them. Beg that the Holy Spirit would guide you in this time of prayer. Account of Actions: Examine your actions of the day, hour by hour, from the moment you woke until the present moment. Examine your actions first, then the thoughts and words behind or motivating the act. Do this for every particular fault that may have occurred. Pay attention to the movements of your heart. Did you waver in your decision to sin before you did it? Did you feel the pull of God not to do it? Repentance: Express sorrow for the sins you have committed and ask God for forgiveness. Do these while imagining you are having a face-toface conversation with Jesus Himself. Resolution: Ask for the grace to come up with specific resolutions to make amends for the wrong that was done. 3

14 What was it like to give thanks to God? What did you do to focus? Was it easy or difficult? Explain. What was it like to imagine having a face-to-face conversation with Jesus about specific actions you committed? You can make the Examination of Conscience each day, by yourself (with the help of the Holy Spirit). The prayer challenge this week is to find a quiet place in your house and actually pray the Daily Examination of Conscience each night. Spend 5 to 10 minutes in prayer before you get into bed. 4

15 Now that you ve gained insight into how to examine your heart through prayer, try these ideas to continue on your faith journey: Release and Restore: The prodigal son was ultimately reconciled with his father. He examined his life after he had fallen away and realized the intense need for restoring that relationship and it is ultimately his father who forgives and restores his son. In the same way, Ignatius points out that the goal of our lives is relationship with God and that we need to rid ourselves of everything and every sin that pulls us away from God. The fruit of your time of prayer this week should be the forgiveness of your sins and restoration with the Father through the Sacrament of Reconciliation. If you haven t been to the Sacrament of Reconciliation in a while, or are having some trouble remembering the formal process, you can download this document to help you out: kofc.org/en/resources/cis/devotionals/2075.pdf. Mend Relationships: How have your sinful tendencies not only affected your relationship with God, but your relationships with others (family, friends, etc.)? Take time over the next week to connect with people who you need to ask forgiveness from, and do just that. Your relationship with God will be strengthened when you can come before God without the weight of your sin and its burden on your earthly relationships. Thanksgiving Tree: Use this idea to have a visual way of giving thanks to God each day. Purchase a silk tree with branches and create ornaments using string or paperclips attached to an index card. Each day, think of one or two things you can give thanks to God for and write them down on the card; then hang them on the tree. By the end of the month, your tree should be filled with ornaments that signify how many things you have God to thank for. 5

16 KNOW YOUR ENEMIES PARENT SHEET Every YDisciple session has three parts: CONNECT, DISCUSS, and COMMIT. The CONNECT section is designed to build trust, transparency, and community in the group. The DISCUSS section introduces topics of the faith, engages critical thinking, and facilitates valuable conversation. And the COMMIT section helps students take ownership of their faith and put it into practice. Use this Parent Sheet to take a glimpse at our most recent session so you can have a follow-up conversation with your teenager about his/her experience in the small group and encourage spiritual growth. In this session, we served our parish during the busy time leading up to Christmas by helping decorate. We gathered together afterward to discuss liturgical seasons and the Christian symbolism behind many of the decorations we use to celebrate with. The teens committed to continue celebrating Christmas during the whole Octave of Christmas, from December 25th January 1st. Of all the seasons that the Church celebrates, Christmas is the most filled with decorations. Sometimes we think of decorations as a secular, materialistic side of Christmas, but for Catholics, nearly every action and object associated with our celebration of Christmas has profound symbolism in the Church. As you know, many of these symbols have been adopted and changed by the surrounding secular culture and have lost the story of their origins, but Christmas decorations began as a way for Christians to decorate their homes and churches for Mass. For example, the Christmas tree is full of symbolism. We don t know the exact beginnings of the tradition, but some say that it started hundreds of years ago in Germany. Christians noticed that some of the pagans put evergreen trees in their houses throughout winter to remind themselves of the coming of new life in the spring, and so Christians began using the tree to symbolize new life in Christ. The lights on the tree, originally candles, represent the light of Christ coming into the world. The tree also represents the tree of the knowledge of good and evil that Adam and Eve ate from. The red bulbs symbolized the fruit that brought about our fall, while white sugar cookies on the tree symbolized the Eucharist, the fruit of Jesus sacrifice on the cross. Christmas trees reminds us that the fruit of Adam and Eve s tree brought death, but the fruit of Christ s Tree brings us life. 1

17 Matthew 2:10-11 tells of the arrival of the Magi to the place where Christ was: When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. The Magi brought Jesus gifts that would beautify the place where this most holy event was taking place. It is fitting that our visual surroundings reflect the beauty of the invisible mystery of the Incarnation that we celebrate. Here are some conversation starters for this week. Remember to share your perspectives as well. What are some traditions that your family observes during the Christmas season, and how do you think they originated? What is the benefit of celebrating the same traditions every year? How do you think this carries over to celebrating the same liturgical days and seasons every year? Christmas music is a popular way to experience the beauty of the season. What do the lyrics of your favorite Christmas carol reveal about the Incarnation? (For example, check out the full lyrics to Hark the Herald Angels Sing or O Holy Night for a beautiful reflection on the Incarnation!) Here s the challenge we presented to teens: This week, pay attention to the Christmas decorations that you see in church, in schools, in stores, and in your homes. Remember the symbolism that comes with them, and allow them to be an opportunity to remember the truths of the Incarnation and to thank and praise God for His coming into the world. Like the Magi, let s rejoice when we see the star! You might also want to consider the upcoming change in liturgical season. What will you do to celebrate the switch from Advent to Christmas? How will you celebrate all eight days in the Octave of Christmas, from Christmas Day to the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God on January 1? (See the Tips that follow.) When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy; and going into the house they saw the child with Mary his mother, and they fell down and worshiped him. Then opening their treasures, they offered him gifts, gold and frankincense and myrrh. Matthew 2:

18 Consider ways that your family can continue to celebrate the Christmas season all the way through January 1st. Here are some ideas: Spread out the opening of your Christmas gifts over all eight days of the Octave of Christmas. Split up the accounts of the Christmas story from Matthew and Luke into eight pieces, and read one each day before dinner. Continue listening to Christmas music after Christmas Day. Leave your tree and decorations up until January 1st as a reminder. Choose a Christmas Carol with especially meaningful lyrics and use it as a meditation each day. Whatever you decide to do, be intentional about celebrating of the birth of Christ! 3