“From Disciple to Friend” encompasses the second “week” of the The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius of Loyola. It contemplates the early life and public ministry of Jesus of Nazareth as well as Jesus’ continuing invitation for men and women to join him in his ongoing ministry of love and reconciliation.

To review the preparations for the retreat, please click here.
 
If you would prefer to make this retreat using stories and prayers related to Saint Hilda rather than Saint Brigid,

please click here to download this file prepared on A4.
please click here to download this file prepared on US Letterhead.

The Retreat

Before beginning this retreat, you should take a single prayer period to complete "Companioning the King of Heaven", which presents a consideration of two types of service: to a noble earthly cause and to the redemptive mission of Jesus Christ. You may find it helpful to review your notes from the first retreat before making this meditation so that your thoughts and prayers in that journey are clear in your consciousness as you look forward the future.

For a guided version of "Companioning the King of Heaven",
please click here.

Please click here to proceed
to the electronic resources
for this retreat.

Review

After completing the retreat, read Part 2 of “Five Doors in Paradise” in which Timothy Ray discusses the central topics of this retreat and their connection to Celtic spiritual themes.

To download this reflection prepared on A4,
please click here.
To download this reflection prepared on US Letterhead,
please click here.

Then, consider the following statement from The God of Our Deepest Longing by Peter Van Breemen:

“God has a passionate longing for us to commit ourselves to his love and to welcome it emphatically. It is always and everywhere part of the nature of love that it wants to be accepted, and it is disappointed when this fails to happen. That is all the more true of divine love: ‘Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me’(Rev 3:20). A meal is here, as often in scripture, an image of intimacy. God greatly longs for this meal, but he respects our freedom. If someone doesn’t open, he doesn’t force himself on that person. But he also doesn’t go away; he knocks again after a while. Thanks to this perseverance he has already won over many people. God is the power of free attraction.”

What ideas or emotions does this evoke in you? Summarize these thoughts and feelings at the end of your retreat notes.

Before Proceeding Further

As you complete this part of the retreat sequence, you should take a single prayer period to complete "Embracing the Adventure of Jesus' Friendship", which presents a consideration of your friendship with Jesus Christ. You may find it helpful to review your notes from this retreat before making this meditation so that your thoughts and prayers are clear in your consciousness as you look forward the future.

For a guided version of "Embracing the Adventure of Jesus' Friendship",
please click here.

Note: If you are planning to proceed to the retreat in From Passion to Resurrection without an interval, ignore this meditation and contemplate "Embracing the Fullness of Jesus' Friendship" when beginning the next retreat.

To return to the Part 2 start page, please click here.
To return to the program main page, please click here.