Transcript INTIMACY with GOD

INTIMACY with GOD
Talk to Youth Ministers
October 2, 2012
Opening Song: You Are Mine
Silencing
Theme: Responding to God’s Love
Grace:
My Lord Jesus, I beg for the
grace of a grateful heart so I
may be able to freely respond
to your love.
Song: Pagkakaibigan
(Fr. Charlie Cenzon, SJ)
Sacred Scripture:
John 15: 1-10
“Remain in my love…”
What is Prayer?
• Our first response to God’s
initiative of love
• Communication with God –
mind , heart, whole being
• Our main vehicle towards our
loving God
• Sitting at the feet of Jesus,
spending time with Him, like
Mary, listening to Him,
focusing one’s whole being to
Him.
Why Pray?
• To respond to God’s initiative of
love
• To build my relationship with
God – to discover who is God,
Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit,
their roles in my life, His plans
for me, for the world.
Why Pray?
• To communicate with God –
all my concerns, joys aand
pains, successes and failures,
hopes and dreams – to find
strength, rest, light, truth,
life.
Why Pray?
• Discover who I am, where I am
going/my heavenly destination,
my mission, clarity of issues,
inspirations/solutions to my
concerns, etc.
VOCAL PRAYER
Public Prayer
Community
Mass
Christian
Prayer
Family Prayer
Novena
Etc.
Private Prayer
Alone
Silent
Retreat
Recollection
Mental Prayer
Meditation
- Reflection
Contemplation
- Inner senses
- Finding God
in all things
Different Kinds and Expressions of Prayer
4 Traditional Kinds/Movements of Prayer
Meditatio
Lectio Divina
Reflection (use of mind)
Reading the scripture passage
(use of eyes lips)
“What is the message of this
scripture for me?”
“What is God telling me?”
Oratio
Contemplatio
Response of the Heart
Using deep silence
(Thanksgiving, repentance, petition,
guidance, etc.)
“BLANK” beyond words
Use of the heart (Talking to Jesus
heart to heart)
Finding God in All Thing
(St. Ignatius of Loyola)
5 Ps of Prayer
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•
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Passage
Place
Posture
Presence
Pause
7 Signs of a Fruitful Prayer Life
Am I growing in these:
• Gentleness
• Kindness
• Generosity of Heart
7 Signs of a Fruitful Prayer Life
Am I growing in these:
• Truthfulness
• Eagerness to Serve – even if it
brings suffering, the cross
• Prudence
• Humility – desire to embrace the
3rd degree of of humility (S.E. of
St. Ignatius – misunderstanding,
rejection, etc.)
With Prayer…
• We become MORE and MORE
ATTUNED AND SURRENDERED
TO GOD’S WILL
– In Jesus’ word “not my will but
yours be done”
– Our fruitfulness in our mission
depends on our FIAT, our YES to
God’s will.
HUMAN INTIMACY grows…
• When 2 parties take time to be
together.
• Share openly and honestly in
anything and everything that
matters to them, with true
acceptance and without
condemnation.
• It changes both parties.
• They are transformed by the
relationship, to the point that one
resembles the beloved – in
gestures, expressions, values and
attitude.
DIVINE INTIMACY
• Like human intimacy, Divine
intimacy happens between
God and His creature;
between Jesus, the Savior and
You, Me, each one of us, the
saved
• However, the initiative
belongs to God. He loved us
first and gives us the freedom
to love Him back or reject His
love.
DIVINE INTIMACY
• When one experiences the
unconditional love of the
Father, one is TRANSFORMED,
one begins to return that love.
• This RECIPROCAL LOVE
RELATIONSHIP with GOD
enables one to be like the
Beloved and extend HIS love to
others in freedom.
DIVINE INTIMACY
• Through this RECIPROCAL
RELATIONSHIP we:
– Learn to love others without
condition.
– Become a vessel of divine love here
on earth.
– Become His apostle and witness.
– Becomes fruitful in our mission.
DIVINE INTIMACY
This DIVINE INTIMACY is all made
possible through prayer.
• When we spend time in prayer.
• When we sit in silence at His feet like
Mary to listen to Him.
• When we spend more time in the
Eucharist to be with Him, to rest, be
strengthened, be guided.
DIVINE INTIMACY
• As apostles/witnesses of Jesus
Christ in our world, in our
church, He establishes with us a
reciprocal love relationship.
• Our FRUITFULNESS depends on
our rootedness, in our deep
personal relationship with Him.
• Separate from Him we cannot
be fruitful. ONLY JESUS IS THE
SOURCE of our FRUITFULNESS.
MODEL OF DIVINE INTIMACY
• The BLESSED VIRGIN is the
epitome of this divine
intimacy, with her faith filled
FIAT.
• The fruitfulness of her mission
of motherhood from Jesus to
us, the Church, continues,
rooted in her deep divine
intimacy with her Son and the
Holy Spirit.
MODELS OF DIVINE INTIMACY
•
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•
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St. Francis of Assisi
St. Ignatius of Loyola
St. Teresa of Avila
St. John of the Cross
Mother Theresa of Calcutta
Blessed John Paul II
St. Lorenzo Ruiz
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
• Where am I in my
relationship with Jesus?
• Do I feel the need to pray?
Do I hear Him invite me to
rest a while in a quiet place
after a day of work for the
kingdom?
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
• Do I find time for Jesus to
communicate with Him?
• Or am I too busy doing His
work?
• Is it my work or His? (Am I
only after successful
activities or projects? Will I
be praised by my bishop or
superiors? How do I take
failures? Sufferings?)
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
• Does my mission as a
Youth Minister help me
grow in my spiritual life?
(Am I growing in holiness?
Growing more and more
like Jesus?)
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
• Can I honestly claim I am
fruitful in my mission as a
youth minister? Am I
bringing the young people
entrusted to me closer to
Jesus?
Closing Prayer:
Pagkakaibigan