China Retreat
November 10th - 13th
Nov. 10th - Mass at 12 noon
prayer service follows the Mass.
Nov. 12th - Mass at 12 noon
Nov. 13th - Mass at 12 noon

Prayer for Grace for our Country

                November 10, 2018 

                R. We give ourselves as little children
                    praising God –
 

                    "This is My beloved Son in
                        whom I am well
                        pleased –
                        Listen to Him."
 

                Preparatory Prayer

                        "To ask God that all my intentions,
                    actions, and operations may
                    be ordained purely to the
                    service and praise of His
                    Divine Majesty."

Hail Holy Queen

Hail Holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope. To you do we cry, poor banished children of Eve. To you do we send up our sighs, our mourning, our weeping in this vale of tears. Turn, then, most gracious advocate, your eyes of mercy toward us and after this, our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of your womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary.

                        23. FIRST PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION

                            Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God 
                        our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, 
    by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. p.11

21.                     SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

    Which have as their purpose the conquest of self
    and the regulation of one's life in such a way that
    no decision is made under the influence of any
    inordinate attachment 

                R. Dear God, I love You so much – please give me
                the grace I need most during this retreat.
                The focus is being with God – giving Him
                our full attention – being quiet and
                letting Him come and open up our hearts
                and soul to God's will for us.

                    Each one of us has a calling –

                Every individual to live their life
                in this unique way, the Father
                has a plan for our life in salvation
                history –

                We want His truths lived out in
                our lives.

                We see the Plan of Jesus' life –

                Do we see the Plan of the Father
                    for our life –

                God loves us and has called us to live
                this Plan for our lives –

                We are precious to God –

                We give our mind and heart to Him
                    during this retreat to be alone with
                    Him –
                    to have joy in our time with Him
                    in our hearts –
                    We want to see the light and be
                    more faithful in our vocation –
                    God's plan for us to attain eternal
                    salvation some day by living our vocation
                    according to the heavenly Father's Plan
                    for our life now –

                To be committed to our vocation –

                To be eager to live our lives – the heavenly
                    Father's Plan for us
                    Eager as Jesus who went to the cross
                        willingly to be our Savior

                    Mary who loved the will of God,
                        as the Mother of Jesus –

                We are called by the heavenly Father to
                    His Plan for us –
                    Mary said "yes"

                We meditate on the Annunciation –
                    on Mary's "yes"
                    always "yes"

                She loved the heavenly Father as a little
                    child –
                    she wanted to please Him
                    she wanted to love Him

                Mary wanted to serve Him, in His Plan
                    for her life –

                God the Father has a plan for our lives –
                    a unique plan in His calling for
                    us to this vocation

                We spend time alone with God –

                Jesus spent time alone to be with
                    His heavenly Father –

                We want the order of the heavenly Father
                    in our lives –

                Not the disorder of Adam and Eve who disobeyed
                    God's Plan for them –

                Happiness is found in God –

                We need this time with our heavenly Father,
                    we need to live the unique Plan
                    He has for us – His little child –
                    He had a Plan when Jesus came
                    to this earth –
                    He has a Plan for us to follow –
                    We need time with God to
                    know it
                    and say "yes" to His Plan
                    to love His plan for us
                    to give our energy to serving God
                        in our vocation because it's
                        the Father's Plan

                He created us –
 

                        23. FIRST PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION

                            Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God 
                        our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

From The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, 
    by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. p.11

21.                     SPIRITUAL EXERCISES

    Which have as their purpose the conquest of self
    and the regulation of one's life in such a way that
    no decision is made under the influence of any
    inordinate attachment

                Sing: Take, Lord Receive

        Prayer of St Ignatius

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from the side of Christ wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Permit me not to be separated from Thee
From the wicked foe defend me
at the hour of my death call me
and bid me come to Thee
That with Thy saints I may praise Thee
For ever and ever. Amen.
 

Prayer from St. Ignatius

Lord, teach me to be generous.
Teach me to serve you as you deserve;   
To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds;
To toil and not to seek for rest;
To labor and not to ask for any reward,
Save that of knowing
                    that I am doing your will.

“Nothing is more practical than finding God, that is, than falling in a love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination will affect everything. It will decide what will get you out of bed in the mornings, what you will do with your evenings, how you spend your weekends, what you read, who you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.”
                                                                                                                                Pedro Arrupe

                R. We are called to live a life of virtue,
                    of holiness –
                    of unity with God –
                    as the child of our heavenly Father –
                    Committed to God the Father as
                    a little child and His Plan for us –

                    Live virtuously –
                        the supernatural life of
                        greater faith, hope and love,
                        humility, temperance,
                        fortitude, justice, prudence
                        and obedience –

                We're not living in the past –
                    We are getting rid of old ways we
                    handled problems that were
                    wrong.

                    We live united in love to God –

                    We give God our all.

                    We pray to the Holy Spirit to fill us.

                    We need the supernatural vision
                        not the tedious work vision –
                            the worldly vision –

                The selfish vision of competition
                    with others –
                    old bad habits of selfish pride –
                    old bad tapes about ourselves –

                We need to be dipped into the golden
                    pot of our lives according
                    to the Father's Plan and say
                    "yes" to His will – living
                    more and more on a supernatural
                    level in our heart and soul –

                God, please give us the grace we
                    need most during this retreat –

                Please help us to live as You want
                    not in disorder –
 

Romans 8: 5-9

Those who are living by their natural inclinations have their minds on the things human nature desires; those who live in the Spirit have their minds on spiritual things. And human nature has nothing to look forward to but death, while the Spirit looks forward to life and peace, because the outlook of disordered human nature is opposed to God, since it does not submit to God's Law, and indeed it cannot, and those who live by their natural inclinations can never be pleasing to God. You, however, live not by your natural inclinations, but by the Spirit, since the Spirit of God has made a home in you. Indeed, anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.

                R. Father, we beg for grace to live our
                    vocation in joy as You desire
                    us to live.

                The Spirit of joy to be more deeply
                    one with Jesus –

                Our purpose to help in the renewal of
                    the Church and the world –

                We live in obedience to help in this
                    work of building the Kingdom of God –
                    We are called to obedience and
                    structure and order –
                    not willfulness and disorder –
                    going back to the past.
                    We need to handle things
                    in His strength –

                Not going back to old dysfunctional
                    ways when problems come –
                    like a dog going back home
                    because he's afraid in a storm –

                God is leading us in our vocation
                    to the life He calls us to –
                    to work for Him here below
                    as He desires and
                    then be with Him eternally
                        in heaven –

                The soul needs to let go of inordinate
                    attachments – to seek God's
                    will for us –
                    to have His order in our lives –
                    NOT DISORDER –
                    to seek the salvation of our soul –
                    this is our goal –

                To give our will in generosity to God –

                Sing: Take, Lord Receive –

                Dear God, please remove the disordered
                    affections in our lives that keep
                    us from commitment to Your will –

                Seeking affection, attention, pride,
                    starting chaos for attention,
                    confusion giving into satan,
                    slothfulness –
                    being a victim – pouting and
                    victimizing – provoking –
                    lack of co-operation,
                    controlling people for our own
                    isolation and selfishness –

                Give us courage to do God's will –
                    Begging to take away disordered
                        attachments –
                        embracing the Divine will –

                Living in Obedience and Order

                Exercises - means I practice them –

                It is God working in us in grace –
                    our willingness to surrender and
                    trust God and those over us –

                The Exercises are for us from God –

                These Exercises have helped men for
                    hundreds of years –

                We are willing to turn our will
                    and our lives over to God –

                We want Him to remove
                    defects in our character –

                We pray for grace –

                We discern the spirits which
                    will work to try to help us.

                These exercises help us to be holy –

Excerpt of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius, by Louis J. Puhl, S.J. pp.141-150

313. RULES FOR DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS
I

Rules for understanding to some extent the different movements produced in the soul and for recognizing those that are good to admit them, and those that are bad, to reject them. These rules are more suited to the first week
  

314.  I.  In the case of those who go from one mortal sin to another, the enemy is ordinarily accustomed to propose apparent pleasures. He fills their imagination with sensual delights and gratifications, the more readily to keep them in their vices and increase the number of their sins.

    With such persons the good spirit uses a method which is the reverse of the above. Making use of the light of reason, he will rouse the sting of conscience and fill them with remorse.

315.  2.  In the case of those who go on earnestly striving to cleanse their souls from sin and who seek to rise in the service of God our Lord to greater perfection, the method pursued is the opposite of that mentioned in the first rule.

    Then it is characteristic of the evil spirit to harass with anxiety, to afflict with sadness, to raise obstacles backed by fallacious reasonings that disturb the soul. Thus he seeks to prevent the soul from advancing.

    It is characteristic of the good spirit, however, to give courage and strength, consolations, tears, inspirations, and peace. This He does by making all easy, by removing all obstacles so that the soul goes forward in doing good.

316.  3.  SPIRITUAL CONSOLATION.  I call it consolation when an interior movement is aroused in the soul, by which it is inflamed with love of its Creator and Lord, and as a consequence, can love no creature on the face of the earth for its own sake, but only in the Creator of them all. It is likewise consolation when one sheds tears that move to the love of God, whether it be because of sorrow for sins, or because of the sufferings of Christ our Lord, or for any other reason that is immediately directed to the praise and service of God. Finally, I call consolation every increase of faith, hope, and love, and all interior joy that invites and attracts to what is heavenly and to the salvation of one's soul by filling it with peace and quiet in its Creator and Lord.

317.  4.  SPIRITUAL DESOLATION.  I call desolation what is entirely the opposite of what is described in the third rule, as darkness of soul, turmoil of spirit, inclination to what is low and earthly, restlessness rising from many disturbances and temptations which lead to want of faith, want of hope, want of love. The soul is wholly slothful, tepid, sad, and separated, as it were, from its Creator and Lord. For just as consolation is the opposite of desolation, so the thoughts that spring from consolation are the opposite of those that spring from desolation.

318.  5.  In time of desolation we should never make any change, but remain firm and constant in the resolution and decision which guided us the day before the desolation, or in the decision to which we adhered in the preceding consolation. For just as in consolation the good spirit guides and counsels us, so in desolation the evil spirit guides and counsels. Following his counsels we can never find the way to a right decision.

319.  6.  Though in desolation we must never change our former resolutions, it will be very advantageous to intensify our activity against the desolation. We can insist more upon prayer, upon meditation, and on much examination of ourselves. We can make an effort in a suitable way to do some penance.

320.  7.  When one is in desolation, he should be mindful that God has left him to his natural powers to resist the different agitations and temptations of the enemy in order to try him. He can resist with the help of God, which always remains, though he may not clearly perceive it. For though God has taken from him the abundance of fervor and overflowing love and the intensity of His favors, nevertheless, he has sufficient grace for eternal salvation.

321.  8.  When one is in desolation, he should strive to persevere in patience. This reacts against the vexations that have overtaken him. Let him consider, too, that consolation will soon return, and in the meantime, he must diligently use the means against desolation which have been given in the sixth rule.

322.  9.  The principal reasons why we suffer from desolation are three:

    The first is because we have been tepid and slothful or negligent in our exercises of piety, and so through our own fault spiritual consolation has been taken away from us.

    The second reason is because God wishes to try us, to see how much we are worth, and how much we will advance in His service and praise when left without the generous reward of consolations and signal favors.

    The third reason is because God wishes to give us a true knowledge and understanding of ourselves, so that we may have an intimate perception of the fact that it is not within our power to acquire and attain great devotion, intense love, tears, or any other spiritual consolation; but that all this is the gift and grace of God our Lord. God does not wish us to build on the property of another, to rise up in spirit in a certain pride and vainglory and attribute to ourselves the devotion and other effects of spiritual consolation.

323.  10.  When one enjoys consolation, let him consider how he will conduct himself during the time of ensuing desolation, and store up a supply of strength as defense against that day.

324.  11.  He who enjoys consolation should take care to humble himself and lower himself as much as possible. Let him recall how little he is able to do in time of desolation, when he is left without such grace or consolation.

    On the other hand, one who suffers desolation should remember that by making use of the sufficient grace offered him, he can do much to withstand all his enemies. Let him find his strength in his Creator and Lord.

325.  12.  The enemy conducts himself as a woman. He is a weakling before a show of strength, and a tyrant if he has his will. It is characteristic of a woman in a quarrel with a man to lose courage and take to flight if the man shows that he is determined and fearless. However, if the man loses courage and begins to flee, the anger, vindictiveness, and rage of the woman surge up and know no bounds. In the same way, the enemy becomes weak, loses courage, and turns to flight with his seductions as soon as one leading a spiritual life faces his temptations boldly, and does exactly the opposite of what he suggests. However, if one begins to be afraid and to lose courage in temptations, no wild animal on earth can be more fierce than the enemy of our human nature. He will carry out his perverse intentions with consummate malice.

326.  13.  Our enemy may also be compared in his manner of acting to a false lover. He seeks to remain hidden and does not want to be discovered. If such a lover speaks with evil intention to the daughter of a good father, or to the wife of a good husband, and seeks to seduce them, he wants his words and solicitations kept secret. He is greatly displeased if his evil suggestions and depraved intentions are revealed by the daughter to her father, or by the wife to her husband. Then he readily sees he will not succeed in what he has begun. In the same way, when the enemy of our human nature tempts a just soul with his wiles and seductions, he earnestly desires that they be received secretly and kept secret. But if one manifests them to a confessor, or to some other spiritual person who understands his deceits and malicious designs, the evil one is very much vexed. For he knows that he cannot succeed in his evil undertaking, once his evident deceits have been revealed.

327.  14.  The conduct of our enemy may also be compared to the tactics of a leader intent upon seizing and plundering a position he desires. A commander and leader of an army will encamp, explore the fortifications and defenses of the stronghold, and attack at the weakest point. In the same way, the enemy of our human nature investigates from every side all our virtues, theological, cardinal, and moral. Where he finds the defenses of eternal salvation weakest and most deficient, there he attacks and tries to take us by storm.

328. RULES FOR DISCERNMENT OF SPIRITS
II

Further rules for understanding the different movements produced in the soul. They serve for a more accurate discernment of spirits and are more suitable for the second week
  

329.  I.  It is characteristic of God and His Angels, when they act upon the soul, to give true happiness and spiritual joy, and to banish all the sadness and disturbances which are caused by the enemy.
   It is characteristic of the evil one to fight against such happiness and consolation by proposing fallacious reasonings, subtilties, and continual deceptions.

330.  2.  God alone can give consolation to the soul without any previous cause. It belongs solely to the Creator to come into a soul, to leave it, to act upon it, to draw it wholly to the love of His Divine Majesty. I said without previous cause, that is, without any preceding perception or knowledge of any subject by which a soul might be led to such a consolation through its own acts of intellect and will.

331.  3.  If a cause precedes, both the good angel and the evil spirit can give consolation to a soul, but for a quite different purpose. The good angel consoles for the progress of the soul, that it may advance and rise to what is more perfect. The evil spirit consoles for purposes that are the contrary, and that afterwards he might draw the soul to his own perverse intentions and wickedness.

332.  4.  It is a mark of the evil spirit to assume the appearance of an angel of light. He begins by suggesting thoughts that are suited to a devout soul, and ends by suggesting his own. For example, he will suggest holy and pious thoughts that are wholly in conformity with the sanctity of the soul. Afterwards, he will endeavor little by little to end by drawing the soul into his hidden snares and evil designs.

333.  5.  We must carefully observe the whole course of our thoughts. If the beginning and middle and end of the course of thoughts are wholly good and directed to what is entirely right, it is a sign that they are from the good angel. But the course of thoughts suggested to us may terminate in something evil, or distracting, or less good than the soul had formerly proposed to do. Again, it may end in what weakens the soul, or disquiets it; or by destroying the peace, tranquility, and quiet which it had before, it may cause disturbance to the soul. These things are a clear sign that the thoughts are proceeding from the evil spirit, the enemy of our progress and eternal salvation.

334.  6.  When the enemy of our human nature has been detected and recognized by the trail of evil marking his course and by the wicked end to which he leads us, it will be profitable for one who has been tempted to review immediately the whole course of the temptation. Let him consider the series of good thoughts, how they arose, how the evil one gradually attempted to make him step down from the state of spiritual delight and joy in which he was, till finally he drew him to his wicked designs. The purpose of this review is that once such an experience has been understood and carefully observed, we may guard ourselves for the future against the customary deceits of the enemy.

335.  7.  In souls that are progressing to greater perfection, the action of the good angel is delicate, gentle, delightful. It may be compared to a drop of water penetrating a sponge.
    The action of the evil spirit upon such souls is violent, noisy, and disturbing. It may be compared to a drop of water falling upon a stone.
    In souls that are going from bad to worse, the action of the spirits mentioned above is just the reverse. The reason for this is to be sought in the opposition or similarity of these souls to the different kinds of spirits. When the disposition is contrary to that of the spirits, they enter with noise and commotion that are easily perceived. When the disposition is similar to that of the spirits, they enter silently, as one coming into his own house when the doors are open.

336.  8.  When consolation is without previous cause, as was said, there can be no deception in it, since it can proceed from God our Lord only. But a spiritual person who has received such a consolation must consider it very attentively, and must cautiously distinguish the actual time of the consolation from the period which follows it. At such a time the soul is still fervent and favored with the grace and aftereffects of the consolation which has passed. In this second period the soul frequently forms various resolutions and plans which are not granted directly by God our Lord. They may come from our own reasoning on the relations of our concepts and on the consequences of our judgments, or they may come from the good or evil spirit. Hence, they must be carefully examined before they are given full approval and put into execution.

end of excerpt of The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius

                        23. FIRST PRINCIPLE AND FOUNDATION

                            Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God 
                        our Lord, and by this means to save his soul.

                R. What is the secret of life?

                To serve God

                To love –
 

                R. To seek eternal salvation –

                What is a good life?

                R. We follow Mary's example.
 

                R. Her eyes are on Jesus.

Acts 17: 28

                R. Praise God

                Love God

                Give ourselves to God.