: Timothy M. Gallgher, O.M.V
: Ignatius of Loyola's Second Rules for Discernment A User's Guide for Spiritual Directors
: Crossroad Publishing
: 9780824598204
: 1
: CHF 13.00
:
: Christentum
: English
: 96
: DRM
: PC/MAC/eReader/Tablet
: ePUB

Ignatius tells us that his Second Rules treat a 'greater discernment of spirits' than the First Rules. This book seeks clarity in an area where clarity is often elusive. Its focus is the concrete application of the Second Rules in spiritual direction, and to assist spiritual directors in such refined discernment. The Second rules are illustrated for the reader through an example. 'Kathy', a spiritually mature person, faces the situation Ignatius envisaged in his Second Rules. Throughout the book, the reader is her director. this book is intended to serve both those who offer spiritual direction and those learning to be spiritual directors. To the first, it provides a review and firmer grasp of the Second Rules in practice; to the seond, a foundation on which experience will build.

CHAPTER 2

A Consolation That Resolves the Discernment

RULE 2

The days pass, and you and Kathy continue to meet. You have encouraged her to pray daily with Scripture, and she does so faithfully. Most mornings, she spends about an hour in prayer. You have taught her the examen prayer, and she prays this each evening. At your suggestion, she keeps a journal in which she records her spiritual experience in general and specifically in regard to the inner-city school.

First Meeting

You listen as Kathy describes various aspects of her spiritual life. After some minutes, she turns to the inner-city school. She tells you that she continues to experience joy when she contemplates this possibility. She feels God’s closeness and love as she does so.

Then she says, “Last week, I prayed with Luke 6:20–22, the Beatitudes. I never got past the first beatitude, “Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God” (Lk 6:20). I thought about Jesus’s special love for the poor and how the kingdom of God belongs to them. I found that I couldn’t move past this verse. I felt a deep sense of the Lord’s closeness and love for me as I prayed. It filled the whole hour. I spent the next two days praying with this verse, and that joy and love never diminished. In all that time, I felt drawn to the inner-city school.”

You note this experience, and you see, as does Kathy, its relevance to her discernment. With Kathy, you reverence the spiritual consolation given in her prayer. Regarding the discernment itself, you do not see clearly, nor do you attempt to anticipate that clarity. You trust that this will come as the process continues. Your calm and attentive presence, your assurance to Kathy that she is proceeding well in the discernment and that God will give the clarity she seeks, reassure Kathy, and she leaves encouraged in her discernment.

Second Meeting

Kathy tells you of another experience of prayer. The text this time is Luke 9:58: “Jesus answered him, ‘Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.’”

Kathy says, “This morning, I prayed with this text about one who wants to follow Jesus and Jesus’s words about himself in reply. Like the passage in Luke 6, when I read these words, I just wanted to stay there. I felt especially how ready he was to follow wherever the Father would send him, without attachments to places or things. That freedom really drew my heart. The prayer was warm, and I felt loved. The hour passed so quickly. I will return to this tomorrow. As I prayed, I continued to feel attracte