Week 33 - To attain love

Welcome to the final Ignatian meditation of this season.

To properly engage in this meditation, I sit in a relaxed posture. I breathe in and out deeply a few times. With each exhalation, I release any tension and restlessness that may reside within me, so that I may encounter our loving God within myself.

Theme:

The divine encounter that was able to grow through these weekly meditations has given a new dimension to my experience of faith.

The final word belongs to Love, the source of everything and the fulfillment of all things.

What I may wish to pray for:

I long to experience that living from love is possible and gives meaning to my life and to all living things. I long for God to increasingly become the center around which my life revolves.

Music: Beethoven, II. Allegretto from Symphony No. 7 in A Major, Op. 92 (excerpt)

Spotify Link:

https://open.spotify.com/track/3fEg0RRwk9qPuXQ5d2S62L?si=e61b5bac785c4749

YouTube Link:

https://youtu.be/Msw-yemv0qA?si=OrE7ZlAioeO_sNHA

Life is just like this music. New melodies are constantly added to the first melody. Melodies of light and darkness, of hope and fear, of joy and sorrow. God's love binds all these layers in our lives together transforming our lives into a symphony.

We pray the prayer of Ignatius:

Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

my memory, my understanding, and my entire will,

all that I have and possess.

You have given all to me;

to you, Lord, I return it.

Everything is yours; do with it what you will.

Give me only your love and your grace,

that is enough for me.

Trust requires that I can let go, but also that I feel safe. How do I experience that in my relationship with God? Do I have the courage, like Ignatius, to truly place my life, my choices, and my future in God’s hands?

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In the prayer of Ignatius, I offer what is not easy to give up: “...my memory, my understanding, and my entire will.” What holds me back from entrusting all that to God? What inner resistance or uncertainties do I encounter?

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The prayer of Ignatius ends with a deep longing expressed in the words: “Give me only your love and your grace, that is enough for me.” How can I hold on to this longing amidst the layers of life with its beauty and its struggles? How can love remain the heart of my life, even when daily life is difficult?

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Music: Beethoven