I know indeed how to live in humble circumstances; I know also how to live with abundance. In every circumstance and in all things I have learned the secret of being well fed and of going hungry, of living in abundance and of being in need.

I have the strength for everything through him who empowers me. -Philippians 4:12-13

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Week 9 Prayer

 

Graces to pray for every day.  Keep your fellow discerners in mind and consider how generous each one is with time, talent and availability for this important work.

• Ask God to deepen your love for God by showing you how great is the Divine expression of love toward you. 

• Ask God to give you deep freedom to seek only God’s Will in all things.

• Ask God to give all the members of the discerning team that some interior freedom.

 

Day 1:  Consider the weeks of prayer that you have been engaging in.  Think of your very busy sisters and brothers in all three parishes who have been faithful to this process of prayer.  Consider the hand of friendship that has been extended to you from various persons in the process.  Now consider how the Disciples of Jesus experienced that hand of friendship. Undertake a colloquy with Jesus or Mary about these men an women and about your own feelings.  Be as open and honest as possible with Jesus or Mary and invite them to show you what they see and feel.

 

Slowly pray the Suscipe prayer.  (Note how you feel about the words and intentions of this prayer.) Journal.

 

Day 2:  Consider the gift of your body through which you encounter the world.  Consider the goodness of legs that enable you to move around, to stand and sit, etc.  have you ever had to deal with a broken leg or one in great pain?  Consider your eyes, your ears, your tongue -that both gives pleasure through taste, and allows your voice to be heard and understood. Consider your health of mind, body and spirit.  How would your life have been different if you were blind or deaf etc.?

 

Do a colloquy with your favorite saint about these gifts.  Do you find yourself complaining rather than praising and thanking?  Why?

Pray the Suscipe prayer and consider letting go of these various gifts into God care and direction.

Journal.

 

Day 3.

Consider your various strengths and talents.  The education you received, the parents who love you, various successes you have come to. Consider your material well being.  Do you know where your next meal is coming from?  Will you be able to pay your bills this month?  Do you have the opportunity to attend theater or music events? 

Suscipe prayer, colloquy and jounal.

 

Day 4

Consider your safety.  Do you have a roof over your head?  A vehicle that works?  Heat and cooling temperatures?  Friends who support your well being?  Family that you care for and that care for you?

Suscipe prayer, colloquy and journal

 

Day 5

Consider the gift of political freedom.  The various privileges of your life. The capacity to come and go as you will or choose. Other aspects of your ease of living. 

Suscipe prayer, colloquy and journal

 

Day 6

Repition of one of the days this week that has awakened something in you (either positive or negative).

Suscipe prayer, colloquy and journal

 

Day 7

Consider the graces of this past week.  The discovery of your joy or anger, the Sense of God’s presence with you.  What gifts has God responded with?  What do you still need?

 

Listen to the Suscipe prayer being sung. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=8C-SENHUAw8&list=RDAMVM8C-SENHUAw8  

Colloquy and journal.

 

If you have a group, here are some suggestions for your group meeting: 

 

Bring your journal to the group to share both your grace and the failure of grace that you discovered this past week.  Discuss how grateful you have been or not in the past.  What has changed?  Ask God again to deepen your perception of Divine Love and the capacity to feel that love, not just think about it.

Engage this week with your group in two rounds of spiritual discussion:

 

Round one – share the fruit (or lack of it) of your prayer

After all have shared take 5 minutes and consider what you have heard, and ask for the grace to find God in it.

 

Round two – identify to the group the things you heard that most touched you or threatened you that you or someone else in the group said.  Prayerfully listen to one another.