World Youth Day USA Guides Retreat Manual | Page 25
PRAYER EXPERIENCE
Jesus desires to meet us through the Scriptures
IGNATIAN CONTEMPLATION
just as he encountered the blind man, the leper,
Each participant will need a Bible or a handout with
the woman at the well, and so many others.
the Scripture verses. You may want to create a handout
Jesus is the Word – all of Sacred Scripture
with the Instructions and Reflection Questions
speaks of him and points to him. Ask the Holy
Spirit for guidance. Trust in his presence and
Leader: We are going to take some time for a
that he is at work through your imagination.
prayer exercise called Ignatian Contemplation,
Trust that the Lord is using your imagination to
also known as Imaginative Prayer (this has also
encounter you in a very deep and personal way.
been described in the tradition as meditation or
meditative prayer – an aspect of lectio divina).
Instructions for Contemplation:
Our imagination is a powerful source of prayer
1. Find a quiet and comfortable place where
and a place where we encounter Jesus by
you won’t be distracted. Ask the Holy Spirit to
imagining scenes from the Gospel stories.
open your mind and heart to his presence in
prayer. Ask for the grace to encounter Jesus
and receive his Holy Word.
We do this by visualizing the scene and
entering into the scene, as if we were in a
dream. Consider “becoming” one of the
2. Choose a Scripture passage from the
characters in the story – imagine that you are
Gospels, preferably a passage with a memorable
the blind man or one of the disciples – and
“encounter” with Jesus.
notice your own interaction with Jesus. Allow
yourself to enter fully into the character and
NOTE TO LEADER: You can choose one
make the story your own. This is not simply a
Scripture passage for everybody to use, or invite each
matter of repeating words on the page.
participant to choose one of the following.
By fully “entering into the Scriptures” through
Lk 5:1-11 – Call of the fisherman
Scripture as they truly are, the living word of
Mt 16:13-20 – Who do you say I am?
God. Ignatian Contemplation is one way that
Lk 19:1-10 – Zacchaeus in the tree
the Scriptures come alive for us, and God