Category Archives: Praying with the Imagination
Joyful Mysteries and Silent Dreams
“Let there be Esther,” I heard God pronounce, speaking right into my life-long struggle to exist. During the Ignatian prayer retreat I was leading last week, I had a chance to pray with one of my “joyful mysteries.” As I … Continue reading →
Using Our Imaginations to Be with Christ in Holy Week
In the past few posts (and in my upcoming Good Friday post), I have shared how Christ has shown compassion for me in my suffering. Now I want to be with Jesus in his suffering. The best way I know … Continue reading →
Compassion Leads the Way
This is my last post about what happened on my 8-day silent retreat in July. If you haven’t read the previous ones, I encourage you to do that before you read today’s. I stood with the Trinity looking down at the … Continue reading →
Invited to Love
This is the fourth post about what happened on my 8-day silent retreat in July. If you haven’t read the previous ones, I encourage you to do that before you read today’s. I pray with Psalm 51 again, trying to … Continue reading →
Love Is Our Birthright
This is the third post about what happened on my 8-day silent retreat in July. If you haven’t read the previous posts. I encourage you to do that before you read today’s. Erik suggested that I pray with Psalm 51. … Continue reading →
The Prodigal Daughter
“Be gentle with yourselves,” Erik, our director, told us as we began our 8-day silent retreat. After a few more instructions, he sent us off to pray with scriptures that spoke of God’s enduring, present, and attentive love for us. … Continue reading →
Sometimes We Want Vengeance Too
When I look at this painting of Jesus’ rejection in Nazareth by James Tissot, I see a lot of anger. I can understand why. When Jesus read those beloved words from Isaiah 61 about the Spirit of the Lord being on … Continue reading →
Right Where I Am
I looked at this drawing of an injured bird and felt tender inside. I lingered for a while with that feeling and the sense of being held. Then, in the retreat’s spacious silence, I reflected on a poem by Mary … Continue reading →
A Doorway
My Eight-Day Retreat: Part 5 Father Roshan picked up on the theme of finding the lost and assigned me the story of Zacchaeus for one of my prayers. I took the despised tax-collector’s place. However, in my story, everyone was … Continue reading →
O That You Would Vanquish My Fears
My Eight-Day Retreat: Part 3 On the fourth day of my eight-day retreat, Father Roshan asked me to pray with three “Sorrowful Mysteries.” The first memory that returned to me was the day our son, who was sixteen at the … Continue reading →
