We can’t walk down the streets of Nazareth today with Jesus right beside us, asking him our questions and listening to his teachings. St. Ignatius thought that using our imaginations was the next best thing. In his Spiritual Exercises, he offers a number of contemplations as ways to guide our imaginations into scenes of Jesus’ life or certain spiritual concepts. By really being there – at least in our imaginations – we can come to see Jesus more clearly, love him more dearly, and follow him more nearly.
The Contemplation of the Incarnation that we try out in this meeting helps us understand how God’s deep love for the world lead to God choosing to become flesh in Jesus. We can’t help but wonder what God’s choice to be one of us means for our own faith and discipleship.
With any contemplation, we ask the Spirit to guide our thoughts and we seek to courageously follow where the Spirit leads. Sometimes strange or uncomfortable images or thoughts arise. With any of these, we hold them up to the light of God and examine them, discerning what we’re meant to learn from them. If they are of God, they stay with us in the long term and bring us closer to God.
You may want to tell the group that this type of prayer may feel awkward or strange, and it is OK to have whatever experience they have with it. Some people may find it very meaningful. Others may not. Regardless, our sharing of this experience together is an opportunity for God to be revealed to us in prayer or through the prayers of one another.
A sample of how a person might lead this reflection is included in the meeting outline. You may want to adjust it or write one of your own using the themes here. Be sure to leave lots of time for silent reflection between each statement that you read so that people’s imaginations can really form the scene in their minds. Also, consider taking this contemplation to your own personal prayer sometime in the week before your CLC meeting. Experiencing the fruits that the Spirit gives you in this contemplation will deepen and enrich the experience of your group when you lead it.
As we reflect on our own life stories through the Spiritual Autobiographies, it is helpful to place the context of our own lives into the greater context of God’s love for us and God’s active choice to become one of us – knowing what we experience and sharing the journey with us in an incarnate way.
More information about the Contemplation can be found at ignatianspirituality.com.
Top
Invite the group into silence. Ask for the grace to see with God’s eyes.
Ask people to share how they are feeling right now as they come into this meeting.
Lead the group through the Contemplation on the Incarnation
Allow each person to share a little about their experience. If possible, try to help people share a little more deeply about how they felt God was moved to become incarnate. Or, some people may have not felt very engaged in this. Encourage everyone that it is OK to have not “felt” anything, and invite them to be honest about sharing that as well.
Sometime this week, try to look at the people around you with God’s eyes, and try to see them as God sees them. This is especially difficult – and rewarding! – to try on someone that you struggle to love!
Draw upon the graces that have been shared from this contemplation. Express gratitude for how God has worked in our time together and ask for a deepening of this prayer in our coming week.
“The Three Divine Persons, contemplating the whole of humanity in so many sinful divisions decide to give themselves completely to all men and women and liberate them from all their chains. Out of love, the Word became human and was born of Mary, the humble Virgin of Nazareth.” CLC-USA General Principles #1
The Contemplation on the Incarnation can be found in full in the Spiritual Exercises [101-135].
Top