Through prayer and reflection, we bring ourselves closer to God
Through the spirituality St Ignatius of Loyola we discover a way of finding God in the ordinary moments of each day. Through our vows of chastity, poverty and obedience we are faithful to our commitment to Jesus Christ.
As members of a Religious Congregation we set aside time each year (6 or 8 days) to go away – Retreat – to a quiet place in prayer and silence to discern God’s will for us.
During the summer of 2012 a special retreat was organised focusing on our Constitutions which determine our way of life. The following is an account from one of the Sisters who made this retreat.
Reflection from the Constitutions Retreat given by Fr Brian O’Leary SJ July/August 2012
We reflected prayerfully on the deliberations of St Ignatius and his first companions – on how they would belong together, as they dispersed across the world; how they decided to form one Body, which would be a source of apostolic energy and efficacy. These deliberations were radical in the 16th Century. There would be no sung Office and no enclosure. Their apostolic mission would always be what united them. These decisions became Constitutions and were approved by Pope Paul III. It was these Constitutions that Mary Ward was inspired to adopt, in response to her experience of God, urging her to “Take the same of the Society.” Our prayer then centred on discerning and nurturing our call to this way of life – a call that would be costly, remembering that Jesus’ own call cost him his life. Our vows of Obedience, Chastity and Poverty, enable us to live more fruitfully for mission. Mission is the very centre of our Constitutions. For us, mission means sending – or being sent; – this is the living out of our surrender to God – to be sent throughout the world, seeking the glory of God, and the conversion of souls. We prayed about this vision, which is broad in scope and mystical in depth. Our mission is never limited, and, as Fr Peter Kolvenbach SJ said, “Each local Community is not just for mission, it is itself mission, in today’s world.” Praying about Leadership, we recalled that Ignatius said that all – head and members – have experienced the Spiritual Exercises, all have known suffering; all have learnt to find God in all things. Final decisions and ‘sendings’ arise from the mutual decisions of both leaders and members. Both are seeking God. As we approached the end of the Retreat, we prayed for dependence on the Lord as we looked to the future. We remembered that the purpose of our Institute is for mission, our focus is on the world, and the preservation of the Institute is not an end in itself. Our responsibility is to nurture the Institute, and to leave the rest to God. Hope is the graced human response that God will provide. Nothing is wholly human or wholly divine. All is shot through with grace – or Christified. Finally, we recalled, in prayer, that Ignatius knew how easily we can be trapped – that is why he lays down Constitutions. They presume the Spiritual Exercises. They are our way of living the Exercises. The Exercises are at the service of each individual, but lived out by our Constitutions. Our life is a pilgrimage whose end is God – a new heaven and a new earth. We keep God always before our eyes, in the Institute, through our Constitutions – our way to God. To find out more about Ignatian spirituality go to www.jesuit.org.uk/spirituality/ignatianspirituality.htm Our retreat house is Loreto Centre, Llandudno Click Here