An Invitation to Prayer: The Immaculate Conception and the Discernmentof Spirits (The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius of Loyola)

Many of us lament that where God is most present, Satan layin the shadows.  I would endorse thissimple discernment of Spirits vs. spirits, having visited a few holy shrines.

In January of 2010, I was in the Holy Land.  It was at the behest of our Seminary’s newRector then, Monsignor Peter I. Vaccari.

He is now the Rector of the RegionalSeminary of Saint Joseph’s in Dunwoodie, NY. here

Father Peter thought then that we should all walk in the “footsteps of Jesus” in our lifetime, if nothing else than for us to experience the 5^thGospel (as the Holy Land has been widely labeled).      Click here.

It was early in the mornings that we pilgrims, by the urging of the Spirit, would go to the Holy Sepulcher to visit with our Lord before the rush of the tourists.  You see in places like the holiest sites of Jerusalem, there are at least three classes of visitors: tourists, travellers and pilgrims. 

The tourists must see everything to “check their boxes” and travelers are in the locale because of commerce or some other convenience.  Sometimes they may venture into the “sites” out of curiosity or even for a good purpose: to see with their own eyes as one might say.

It was after a few of those mornings, quietly praying at the foot of the Cross on Golgotha (literally), 

Cavalry or "Golgotha" the Place of the Skull

that I realized His proximity and that of the anti-Christ.  Some of the tourists were nearby, outside the Aedicule, the place where the Tomb of the Resurrection is.  Where?  Just a little bit away from Golgotha within the super-structure of the Holy Sepulchre (Jn.19:38‑42).

It was here that two men and a women were discerning whether to wait online for a glimpse of the tomb.  You see it was much later in the day and the local Jerusalem police had placed barricades for crowd control outside the Tomb.  

The conversation went something like this:

The Exterior of the Aedicula: Where Jesus Rose

Man 1: “Do you want to go into the tomb?”

Women: “I don’t know, I am kinda hungry.”

Man 2:  “is it really the Tomb, or just a tomb.”

You can see reason and intellect was clearly shadowing heart and soul, the place were faith rests…

Man 1 continued: “This is what they say!”

Women: “But, aren’t we inside the city walls”?

You see, He was in fact crucified outside the city walls of 1^st Century Jerusalem. Unfortunately the 13^th Century Caliph decided to extend the city walls to capture this holy pilgrimage site and the commerce that it attracted.

The point is the devil has fun with these cognitive dilemmas (See C.S. Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters).  When we decide to eat falafel instead of praying in His Tomb we may be assured of satisfying our hunger for much needed nourishment; however, perhaps we are missing something else.  What we may miss in the process can be the opportunity for real, deep communion and grace with Him.

We who travel to these Holy Places must be spiritually ready to receive His graces. As pilgrims and spiritual sojourners we are potentially hyper-receptors for grace. I think this is a good daily goal for everyday life: to be ready for spiritual awakening or risk remaining in the shadows of sin.

As we continue the liturgical season of Ordinary Time, the great season of hope and expectation, why not ready ourselves for what awaits.  Yes it will be busy and we all have our lists to compile and complete as we move into the last full month of summer.  Let us not forget the great proper Feasts that await as we move toward the "school calendar".

Sometimes we can enjoy grace readily.  Other times it is the busyness of life that can "get in the way".  Saint Ignatius of Loyola was very aware of the busyness and "business" of life.  He was a prominent lay member of society during his time as a royal courtier working for the Spanish throne in the Treasury whilst protecting his homeland as a reserve military officer.  His vocation came to him as  a member of the laity; first teaching faculties to quiet the Inquisition where he was accused thrice. Secondly, Holy Orders through discernment and finally as founder of the Society (Company) of Jesus, the largest religious order in the world today, bar none.
  

Saint Ignatius and the Discernment of Spirits

To illustrate how Trinitarian grace, the thing that The Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius teaches us most to yearn for operates we can look back to last year, 2013.  During Advent of 2013 we had a great bonus and blessing.  

On the Second Sunday of Advent we had the date that many of us circle every year, December 8, typically our great Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. However, the Church shifted the Feast to Monday, December 9 because of the Sunday conflict.

There were several spiritual “bonuses”:

1.    That was the exact date, December 9 on which the Virgin appeared to Saint Juan Diego in 1531, normally also his feast day.

2.    She appeared to Juan Diego as The Immaculate Conception. He was going to Mass in honor of Her patronage under this title, although it would be more than three centuries until the Dogmatic Declaration (ordinarily, The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe is on December 12).

What a great "strand of days" we had to begin our liturgical year.  The first Sunday of Advent, The Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Guadalupe within 4 days which allowed us the many graces available to enter into a mini-retreat.

Let us then, not ignore the graces offered through the providence of the liturgical calendar as we continue this year.  Let us summon all the Angels and Saints, most especially the Theotokos (Mary, the Immaculate Conception)  and her little helper, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, to help us enter into the mystery of discernment and grace.  First, in the fullness of time and perhaps soon, at the end of time.  So that we may enter into His kingdom for the greater glory of God!
ad majorem Dei gloriam. Fr. D. A. Suglia

@SSCMsacrprep

---