Imagining Christ Our Lord before me on the cross… asking how it came about that the Creator made Himself human, and from eternal life came to temporal death, and thus to die for my sins. Then, turning to myself I shall ask, what have I done for Christ? What am I doing for Christ? What ought I do for Christ?’ St.Ignatius of Loyola, The Spiritual Exercises. As I come to Holy Week each year, especially Good Friday, I have found that the most enriching way to pray, or to attend a liturgy, is simply to imagine my being with Jesus in his suffering. Placing myself into the story. Imaginative contemplation is all about getting to know Jesus. It is a method of prayer in which you imagine yourself as present in a Gospel scene, stepping into the story and encountering Jesus there. It was St. Ignatius' firm belief that God can speak to you just as clearly in your imagination as through your thoughts. This way of praying will help you to see more clearly, love more dearly, and follow more nearly the person of Jesus Christ. The heart of imaginative prayer, then, is to “meet” God, usually in the person of Jesus, in a personal way. As my friend Trevor Hudson says: “So, as we seek to be with Jesus in his passion, Ignatius encourages us to ask God to grow our capacity to be compassionately present with his Son. This growth gradually happens as we die to our self-interest and egocentricity, to be more present to the Crucified One.” Being with Jesus in his passion involves seeking to realize, to become conscious and aware, that he died for you personally. This is the grace of Holy Week. So I invite you to “be with him” on the way of Holy Week. How might that look for you in this coming week? May we be intentional, plan for some focused time to be with him, so that the celebration of Easter and the Resurrection will bring true wonder and joy. With you on The Journey and The Way, Rob+ P.S. The music theme I created for this post “Behold” can be listened to separately here: You might begin your own imaginative prayer practice by listening to this to begin. Follow the steps below. Some Helps With Imaginative Prayer (Adapted from The Jesuits in Britain) 1 Imagine The Place The first step in an Imaginative Contemplation exercise is setting the scene. So, what is the location? What does it look like? What details do you see? Getting into the details here will help. For example, take the story of Jesus’ Last Supper or his agony in the Garden of Gethseamanee. There are many events in Holy Week where we can experience “being with Jesus.” 2 Engage all your senses Imaginative contemplation goes beyond just what you can see, it requires you to engage all of your senses. In doing this, you can fully immerse yourself into the story; this means exploring what you smell, hear, taste and touch. Once you have filled out your sensory experience of the place, you can move into the ‘action’ of the scene, having finished ‘composing the place’ fully. 3 Let the scene play out This is to let the story unfold and to allow yourself to be drawn into what has captured your imagination. Sometimes people are not drawn to the main action of the story but towards other things. When this happens, it is best not to judge that but to allow yourself to follow what you are naturally being drawn to.It is important to understand that, at this stage, you are not just watching the scene play out as though it is a scene from a movie and you are a viewer. Instead, see yourself as a character inside the story. 4 Open your heart to Jesus Conclude with a conversation in your imagination between Jesus and yourself, as one friend speaks with another. Express what is in your mind and heart and let Jesus express His responses too. Thank you for subscribing. Share this episode.
