The Dynamic Structure of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius Loyola

 

The words “dynamic structure” mean that the way the whole pattern of the Exercises starts at one point and leads, step by step, to something else.  So, what is the starting point and to what does it lead?

 

But before we answer that question, we need to look  at other familiar structures that are dynamic.  Take mathematics:  we don’t begin with calculus, rather, we begin with addition and subtraction, then multiplication and division, then into algebra and geometry, and eventually to calculus and higher forms of mathematics.  Take literature:  first we learn out abc’s, then we learn to read sentences and paragraphs, then we work on comprehension of more complex written thoughts, and finally we are able to read fact and fiction, scholarly articles and books, newspapers and magazines.  But we don’t give a child of 6 a bible and say:  here, read and understand and explain what you have read.

 

Human growth itself is dynamic:  we begin as babies, pass into childhood, then into adolescence, then into young adulthood, and eventually into mature adulthood. 

 

None of these processes can be curtailed or rushed.  Each process must take time and effort even though we may know what the end product should be.  The same is true of the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius or what we could call the Ignatian Retreat.

 

So where does it start?  It begins with our acknowledging that we are created beings and that God is our creator.  That sounds very simple, but there are serious things to ponder just in that fact.  What are the implications of our being created?  What are the implications of our relationship to God, to other created human beings, and to other created things, because we are creatures?  A creature is one who is made to exist by someone else and who is therefore radically dependent on God the Creator for life, for growth, for development, for maturity, for sustenance, for discovery of the spiritual meaning of creaturehood.

 

And where do the Exercises take us?  They take us to a full consciousness of God’s loving, working, creative, joyous presence with us and around us and in every creature there is.  And this fully conscious conclusion has implications as to our own identity and the identity of everything that is around us.

 

And what is the process, the dynamism which takes us from beginning to the conclusion?  It is the contemplation of what God has revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, the very revelation of God the Father who has sent to us not only his only begotten Son but also the Holy Spirit to guide us in the process of human life.  The process reveals to us what it means to be fully human, fully alive, what compassion means, what service means, what love motivated by God’s love for us means. 

 

The dynamic is a series of God’s loving actions toward us and our response to those actions.  That is the process which leads us to a full, self-appropriated consciousness of who God is and who we are and what our relationship is and should be.

 

Projections

 

1.

 

The “Spiritual Exercises” is a way of reflecting on our inner life of faith through a series of prayer exercises.

 St. Ignatius felt that to keep a healthy spiritual life, one should engage in reflective prayer from time to time.

The words “dynamic structure” mean that the way the whole pattern of the Exercises starts at one point and leads, step by step, to something else

So, what is the starting point and to what does it lead?

 

2.

 

So where does it start? 

It begins with our acknowledging that we are created beings and that God is our creator.  That sounds very simple, but there are serious things to ponder just in that fact. 

What are the implications of our being created?  What are the implications of our relationship to God, to other created human beings, and to other created things, because we are creatures? 

A creature is one who is made to exist by someone else and who is therefore radically dependent on God the Creator for life, for growth, for development, for maturity, for sustenance, for discovery of the spiritual meaning of creaturehood.

 

3.

 

And where do the Exercises take us? 

They take us to a full consciousness of God’s loving, working, creative, joyous presence with us and around us and in every creature there is. 

And this fully conscious conclusion has implications as to our own identity and the identity of everything that is around us.

(How we define ourselves is what we strive to be.  If our identity is one based on material things, honors, prestige, or even job satisfaction, then we will be caught in a this worldly identity.)

4.

 

And what is the process, the dynamism which takes us from the beginning to the conclusion? 

It is the contemplation of what God has revealed in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, the very revelation of God the Father who has sent to us not only his only begotten Son but also the Holy Spirit to guide us in the process of human life.  More importantly, it is a personal faith encounter with the Risen Jesus, which changes us forever.

The process reveals to us what it means to be fully human, fully alive, what compassion means, what service means, what love motivated by God’s love for us means.