Ignatius Spiritual Exercises

My wife and I participate in the Ignatius Spiritual Exercises this year under the direction of Don and Charlotte Ferris. It's an 8-month long spiritual retreat, meeting once every 2 weeks, lining up nicely with the Christian calendar (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost). This is the 2nd year we do this, and it keeps getting deeper and more powerful.

This week we meditate on the Foundation of the retreat. Here's the poetic form of the Foundation:

Lord my God, when Your love splilled over into creation

you thought of me.
I am
from love, of love, for love.

Let my heart, O God, always
recognize, cherish, and enjoy
Your goodness in all of creation.

Direct all that is me toward your praise.
Teach me reverence for every person, all things.
Energize me in your service.

Lord, God
may nothing ever distract me from your love …
neither health nor sickness
wealth nor poverty
honor nor dishonor
long life nor short life.

May I never seek nor choose to be
other than you intend or wish.

Amen.

Think about this Foundation. Print it out and pray it. Meditate on it. It expresses well the Biblical foundation of our existence. It's an invitation to return to the original intention of the human creation. I resonate with the language of this Foundation a lot better than with the Purpose Driven Life movement. Will blog about this another day. In the meanwhile you can read more about the Ignatius Spiritual Retreat in this long article in the National Catholic Reporter.