In the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola, out of which comes the Ignatian Contemplation method of prayer we’ve been exploring in this series, there’s a time for contemplating the whole “passion” of Jesus: from the Last Supper to his death on the cross. At the beginning of Holy Week, we hear today the whole passion story from Luke’s Gospel. The main thing the Exercises invite us to do praying with the passion story is simply to be with Jesus and to ask to feel sorrow with him in his suffering so that we’re even more ready ask for joy with him glorious in his Resurrection. So here at the end of this series, I offer again a more general guided contemplation below. I invite you to pray using it for some time each day of this Holy Week…following the whole story throughout the week. You can use the passion story in any of the four Gospels, or mix and match for different days. Once we come to the Triduum of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Holy Saturday, you might use the Gospels for each day – you can find them at www.usccb.org/bible/readings. And from Easter Sunday and through the Easter season, you can begin to do contemplations with all the amazing Resurrection stories!

Here’s a guided Ignatian Contemplation for Holy Week and into Easter season:

1. For a few moments, I consider how God is looking at me with great love.
2. I ask that all my thoughts, emotions and actions will be focused on and guided by God in the prayer ahead.
3. I slowly read over the passage from the Bible once, reminding myself of the story.
4. I imagine the scene in the story: What does the setting look, sound, feel, smell like? Which people are there, and how do I imagine them dressed? I can imagine more details for a little while, too.
5. I take a moment and ask God for a grace: what it is I’m seeking. It might be simply to know, love, and serve him more. During Holy Week: to feel sorrow with him suffering. During the Easter season: to feel joy with him Resurrected!
6. Now I imagine myself in the scene, with the people, just as if I were there. I hear what they’re saying and see what they’re doing. I refer to the details of the passage, but I also listen for other things it seems they’re saying and doing. Maybe they begin to interact with me. How do I feel? Maybe I want to say something and do something too.
7. I take some time to talk with the Father, or Jesus, or the Holy Spirit…the way one friend speaks to another…whatever comes to mind. I might talk with Mary as well and ask for her prayers.
8. I close with an Our Father or another prayer.

In prayer,
Fr. Phil Hurley, S.J.
Pastor