“Package tour” to Bethlehem
Hedwig Lewis SJ
Those who contemplate the Nativity
tableau (“Crib”) with the Ignatian “composition of place” and “application of
senses” can “draw much profit”.
St Ignatius suggests that you “compose”
yourself so as to stay focused in prayer and find an entry point from exterior distractions
to interior composure. Your imagination can then place you at the heart of the
Nativity scene, so much so that you “smell and taste, with the senses, the
infinite fragrance and sweetness of the Divinity.”
God speaks through your imagination just as he
speaks to you through your relationships with other people, your ordinary
experiences, desires, emotions and the like. And the active application of senses
leads you to the passive reception of divine intimacy.
The “profit” you draw does not consist in the
“lessons” learned during the contemplation. Rather, it is the realization of
how God has impacted your mind-set through his word, powerfully enough to
transform your life. The “profit” is God’s Christmas gift to you!
The Contemplations of the Second Week of the Spiritual Exercises offer a “package
tour” of the sacred spots in the Holy Land .
Why not take advantage of this pre-paid ticket for a return-trip to Bethlehem
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