10/29/2023 - 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time

MOVING BEYOND COMMANDMENTS TO LIVING IN LOVE

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you will do with your evening, how you will spend your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” Fr. Pedro Arrupe, S.J.

Millions have found the Spanish mystic, Saint Ignatius of Loyola [1491-1556], as a potential and practical guide and mentor for spiritual journeys toward fullness in Christ especially by following the Spiritual Exercises. In this reflection on the Scripture of the week I would like to guide you through a contemplative exercise based on Ignatian spirituality.

Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises culminate in the Contemplation to Attain the Love of God. Since God's love is not something we can "attain" through our own actions, the title is sometimes "The Contemplation on Divine Love." The purpose of this contemplative exercise is to open oneself up to God's boundless love and to respond to that love with more love, more giving, and more independence.

Ignatius encourages us to seek the grace we need by praying for "an intimate knowledge of all the goods which God lovingly shares with me" and then responding fully in "my love and service" to God as an expression of thanksgiving. Ignatius draws our attention to two things before we enter into this meditation. The first rule of love is that actions speak louder than words. When two people love each other, they share everything they have with one another, just as the Father and the Son share everything they have in the Holy Spirit. Secondly, we commit ourselves to the care of God, His angels, and His saints, who are praying for us and interceding on our behalf.

The Contemplation is broken down into four sections: (1) four things for which I pray; (2) four things about which I meditate; (3) four things I do because of the love God has shown me; and (4) four things I do because everything comes from God.

Think first of the good news of creation and redemption, how God has created me and redeemed me through Christ's suffering and death. What kind of sacrifice should I make when I consider the blessings of creation and redemption? Ignatius gives a model of how we might make an offering, a prayer known as the Suscipe: 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 They will. Give me Thy love and Thy grace, for this is sufficient for me.

We return everything to God, not because we fear losing it, but so that God can do with it what He will. Maybe God has something completely different in store for me. The power of this meditation for me comes from remembering that I am both precious and fragile in God's sight. How empowering!

The second area of concentration is devoted to contemplation of God's blessings, specifically "the fullness of divine life in Jesus". Jesus gives me His Body and Blood and His Spirit because He loves me and wants me to be a place where God can live. We make our home in God, and He wants to make His home in us (John 15:4). God gives us God’s very self. What kind of loving and generous response do I want to make?

Third, I consider how God "labors for me" constantly. God joins people in their day-to-day grind and trials. God creates and re-creates me out of the ashes of my suffering and death like a potter with clay, a mother giving birth, or a mighty force reviving the skeleton. Is God actively involved in my life, and how? If I were a garden, God would be the Divine Gardener who sowed the seeds, watered the soil, and pruned me mercilessly. God is not only the gardener, but also the sun, the wind, the rain, the soil, and the seed. Once again, I express my gratitude by saying, "Take, Lord, and receive...."

In the final step, we draw all these previous ideas together and pay attention to how everything comes from God, as rays descend from the sun, or water flows from a fountain, with mercy, justice, love, and so on. Everything is a gift, everything! We can return it all to God and even sing it all back to God, because God’s love is trustworthy, and God’s care and generosity for us are beyond measure. When I pray and acknowledge this truth, it's almost like recollecting something I've always known but sometimes forget. What a relief and joy it is to "remember." ‘Do this in my memory’ is a daily reminder of God’s interacting love for us. To continue loving God and working with God in whatever capacity God calls us to do so today, God invites each of us to remember our true origin and true home. Fr Tom Kunnel, C.O