Prayers, Poems and Meditations
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CHAPTER 4: Prayers, Poems and Meditations WE PRAY FOR All SUSCIPE (TRADITIONAL) A Jewish Prayer from the St. Ignatius Loyola Liberal Jewish Prayer Book Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty, We pray for all who come here My memory, my understanding this evening. And my entire will, Although differences in thought and All I have and call my own. belief divide us, You have given all to me. let the desire to serve you, To you, Lord, I return it. the love of truth Everything is yours; do with it what and the pursuit of holiness unite us. you will. Strengthen the spirit of friendship Give me only your love and your grace, among people of various faiths That is enough for me. and increase mutual understanding between us. We look to a time St. Ignatius of Loyola was a Spanish when greater knowledge of you and knight from a noble family and a theologian who founded the Society your word of Jesus and served as its first shall bind all who serve you Superior General. into one holy fellowship. 21 ARCHBISHOP OSCAR ROMERO PRAYER: THE EXamEN IN PASSAGES FROM A STEP ALONG THE WaY FIVE STEPS SaCRED ISlamIC TEXTS Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw The following is a version of the Examen Qur’an 5:8 developed by Fr. James Martin, S.J. It helps, now and then, to step back and take a long view. It’s only slightly modified from what O ye who believe! Stand out firmly for The kingdom is not only beyond our efforts, it is even beyond our vision. St. Ignatius suggests in the Exercises. Allah, as witnesses to fair dealing, and We accomplish in our lifetime only a tiny fraction of the magnificent let not the hatred of others to you make enterprise that is God’s work. Nothing we do is complete, which is a way of Before you begin, as in all prayer, you swerve to wrong and depart from saying that the Kingdom always lies beyond us. remind yourself that you are in God’s justice. Be just: that is next to piety: and No statement says all that could be said. presence, and ask God to help you with fear Allah. For Allah is well-acquainted No prayer fully expresses our faith. your prayer. with all that ye do. No confession brings perfection. 1. Gratitude: Recall anything from No pastoral visit brings wholeness. the day for which you are especially From the Hadith collection of No program accomplishes the Church’s mission. grateful, and give thanks. Sahih Al-Bukhari, Volume 9, No set of goals and objectives includes everything. report number 84 This is what we are about. 2. Review: Recall the events of the day, We plant the seeds that one day will grow. from start to finish, noticing where The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon We water seeds already planted, knowing that they hold future promise. you felt God’s presence, and where him) said: “Help your brother whether We lay foundations that will need further development. you accepted or turned away from he is an oppressor or the oppressed.” A We provide yeast that produces far beyond our capabilities. any invitations to grow in love. man then said: “I will help him if he is We cannot do everything, and there is a sense of liberation in realizing that. oppressed, but if he is an oppressor, how This enables us to do something, and to do it very well. 3. Sorrow: Recall any actions for shall I help him?” The Prophet replied: It may be incomplete, but it is a beginning, a step along the way, an which you are sorry. “By preventing him from oppressing opportunity for the Lord’s grace to enter and do the rest. 4. Forgiveness: Ask for God’s (others).” We may never see the end results, but that is the difference between the master forgiveness. Decide whether you builder and the worker. want to reconcile with anyone you We are workers, not master builders; ministers, not messiahs. have hurt. We are prophets of a future not our own. 5. Grace: Ask God for the grace you Amen. need for the next day and an ability to see God’s presence more clearly. Bishop Ken Untener of Saginaw wrote this prayer as a reflection on the anniversary of the martyrdom of Bishop Romero. Even though he never spoke it, the prayer is often attributed to Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador, who was assassinated in 1980. 22 23 Fall IN LOVE GOLDEN CHAIN PRAYER YOU HaVE CallED ME THROUGH THE BY NamE SILENCE OF NaTURE Author Unknown; attributed to A Buddhist Prayer Pedro Arrupe, S.J. Joseph Tetlow, S.J. An Islamic prayer by Hazrat Inayat Khan We are a link in Amida’s golden chain Nothing is more practical than find- of love that stretches around the world. Oh, Lord my God, ing God, than falling in Love in a quite We will keep our link bright and strong. You called me from the sleep of nothingness Through the silence of nature, absolute, final way. What you are in love We will be kind and gentle to every living merely because in your tremendous love I attain Thy divine peace. with, what seizes your imagination, will thing and protect all who are weaker you want to make good and O sublime nature, affect everything. than ourselves. beautiful beings. in thy stillness let my heart rest. You have called me by name in my Thou art patiently awaiting the moment It will decide what will get you out of We will think pure and beautiful mother’s womb. to manifest through the silence of bed in the morning, what you do with thoughts, You have given me breath and light sublime nature. your evenings, how you spend your say pure and beautiful words, and do pure and movement O nature sublime, speak to me weekends, what you read, whom you and beautiful deeds. and walked with me every moment of through silence, know, what breaks your heart, and what May every link in Amida’s chain of my existence. for I am awaiting in silence like you the amazes you with joy and gratitude. love be bright and strong, and may we I am amazed, Lord God of the universe, call of God. all attain perfect peace. Namo Amida Fall in Love, stay in love, and it will that you attend to me and, more, O nature sublime, Buddha. decide everything. cherish me. through thy silence I hear Thy cry. Create in me the faithfulness that My heart is tuned to the quietness, moves you, that the stillness of nature inspires. and I will trust you and yearn for you ST. PATRICK’S PERSONAL PRAYER all my days. BREASTplaTE OR OF PEDRO ARRUPE THE DEER’S CRY Amen. Pedro Arrupe, S.J. I arise today Joseph Tetlow, S.J. is the director of a Through the strength of heaven; Grant me, O Lord, to see everything Jesuit retreat house in Dallas, Texas. He previously served in Rome for eight Light of the sun, now with new eyes, years as the head of the Secretariat Splendor of fire, to discern and test the spirits for Ignatian Spirituality. Speed of lightning, that help me read the signs of times, Swiftness of the wind, to relish the things that are yours and Depth of the sea, to communicate them to others. Stability of the earth, Give me the clarity of understanding Firmness of the rock. that you gave Ignatius. Attributed to St. Patrick, co-Patron Pedro Arrupe, S.J. (1907-1991) was the Saint of San Francisco. This prayer was 28th Superior General of the Society translated by Kuno Meyer and taken of Jesus. from Anam Cara by John O’Donohue. 24 25 DISCOURSE ON THE PSalmS PATIENT TRUST DaILY EXamEN FOR DIVERSITY St. Augustine Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J. Debra Mooney, Ph.D. and Cheryl Nunez The desire of one’s heart constitutes one’s Above all, trust in the slow work of God. St. Ignatius Loyola’s Examen is an opportunity for peaceful daily reflective prayer. prayer. There is a hidden anguish which We are quite naturally impatient in It invites us to find the movement of God in all the people and events of our day. is inaudible to men…. If your desire everything to reach the end without delay. The examen is simply a set of introspective prompts for you to follow or adapt to lies open to him who is your Father and We should like to skip the your own character and spirit. Begin with a pause and a slow, deep breath or two; who sees his secret, he will answer you. intermediate stages. become aware that you are in the presence of the Holy. For the desire of your heart is itself your We are impatient of being on the way to From my interactions with the people and world around me... prayer. And if the desire is constant, so something unknown, something new. is your prayer. The Apostle Paul had And yet it is the law of all progress that What experiences of my culture have I had today? purpose in saying: “Pray without ceasing.” it is made by passing through some What experiences of other cultures have I had today? Are we then ceaselessly to bend our stages of instability—and that it may knees, to lie prostrate, or to lift up our take a very long time. How have I been enriched because of these experiences? hands? … Even if we admit that we pray How have I been challenged? And so I think it is with you.