Jesuit Novitiate
Novitiate of the Euro-Mediterranean Province of the Society of Jesus
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Collecting Pine Needles

by Benedek Rácz

Again this morning at home I received this assignment, “collect pine needles on the garden paths”. Every morning we have to do some assignment, but you know that collecting pine needles means that we didn’t find anything more important to do today, after all there are always pine needles to collect. This is a never ending job.

I grab my broom, rake, bags and wheelbarrow, and go out slowly. I get to work.

Sscihh, Sscihh. Cchrrr, Cchrrr.

Okay, there isn’t likely, that as a Jesuit Father, I will be given this job as my main assignment in the future. I don’t think the purpose of this job is to develop my skill in collecting pine needles. So instead what is the purpose?

Sscihh, Sscihh. Cchrrr, Cchrrr.

Obedience. This has always seemed to me to be the most difficult of the religious vows. To fulfill the task I have received.

Sscihh, Sscihh. Cchrrr, Cchrrr.

Okay, but how? That seems like a better question! (cf. Luke 1:34 Then Mary said to the angel, “How … ?”) How is one to obey? What is the purpose?

Sscihh, Sscihh. Cchrrr, Cchrrr.

What have I been sent to do? To clean the paths? In this case, I should ask for a bigger rake and a new broom so that the job can be done faster.

Sscihh, Sscihh. Cchrrr, Cchrrr.

What am I sent to do? To do things in which I feel useless, so that I may grow in humility? In this case it’s actually a useful assignment: it grows my humility. So it’s useful. But if it’s useful, doesn’t it make me more humble!?

Sscihh, Sscihh. Cchrrr, Cchrrr.

What am I sent to do? Thinking about all this, asking myself these questions?

I don’t know.

My brethren and superiors are close to me, though. What would happen if I asked them?

Sscihh, Sscihh. Cchrrr, Cchrrr.

Daily Examen – What are you waiting for to do it?

by Giacomo Mottola

The examination of a day is one of the characteristic prayers of the Jesuites; indeed we could say that it constitutes for us what the choir  is for the monks. It is not just a vocal prayer and its effects are long lasting. Over time the review of the day becomes a real way of life, an Ignatian way of life.

Certainly it was not Saint Ignatius who invented this prayer exercise which was present in the church from the first centuries. No, it’s a bit like the history of America: it was discovered by Columbus but not having yet understood the importance of what he had discovered, for his sake, it was Amerigo Vespucci who gave it the name. Thus Ignatius, inspired by previous experiences, composed the examination of him. Thanks to the spread of the Jesuits throughout the world, it has become the model of examination of “conscience” par excellence. I put conscience in quotation marks because that of Ignatius, as we will see, is not just one of those exams that are needed to confess but much more.

But what is it for?

it is difficult to make a list of “benefits” of this prayer due to simple fact that, being something spiritual, its effect also go beyond what we can know and prove, but limiting myself to those that are more immediately perceptible, I will try to illustrate someone that until now I have been able to experience.

First of all, the exam begins by reviewing the reasons for thanking god in the day (or Half a day if you do it two times a day). Not only thanking him for what happened but we can briefly extend thanks for the creation, for its colors, for life… every day it is possible to find something new! We can give thanks for the salvation worked and for those moments of the day in which we recognize God’s presence… Thus with eyes filled with resurrection we learn life in gratitude. This on sad days is like a ride on a carousel and in an instant the sun returns. Living as a grateful person is the first long-term effect of the exam.

Then we continue with the request of the Holy Spirit to be able to look at one’s life with the eyes of God, which are the eyes of mercy. Looking at one’s life as God sees it is the only way to look correctly at oneself by understanding oneself as a beloved child. This is another long-term effect of the exam.

The third point is to examine one’s day and say to oneself: well, in the face of all this love, how did I respond?

Here is that faults and sins are not centered on our conduct but on the breaking of the relationship with the one who loves us. Decentralizing ourselves, putting Jesus at the center is one of the most liberating effects of this exercise.

Here comes the time to distance ourselves from evil and sin, proposing not only not to commit it again in the future but also trying to find a way to prevent future falls. This is a bit like keeping your guard up knowing that life is a fight against the power of darkness.

The exam helps us to have a strategy to win.

Finally we can say our love to God, asking the Father for forgiveness for any shortcomings and re-establish our alliance with Him in the name of Jesus.

Here is the exam that puts us on our feet and puts us back in the Father’s arms for the next piece of the road, but it’s not over! Over time, in fact, examination after examination, a constant vigilance develops over one’s actions and relationship with God and to watch in anticipation of Chist’s return.

What are you waiting for to do it?

 

Read more about it: https://getupandwalk.gesuiti.it/lesame-di-coscienza/

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